WB govt moots 'Tripartite' talks

Kolkata, Jan 26 (IBNS) To resolve the industrial disputes between management and labour unions, the West Bengal government has suggested 'Tripartite' talks involving the government as a negotiator.

West Bengal Labor Minister-in -Charge Purnendu Basu asked the industrial bodies and trade unions to include the government participation to resolve any dispute within the factory between them.

"The government expects the management and the trade unions to acknowledge and accept our role whenever there is a failure at bipartite level talks between them and before resorting to work stoppages like strike or lock-out," he said on Wednesday at an intreractive session organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce.

He advised that if there is any dispute in the factory then the management has to first pinpoint the reason behind the dispute and talk with the labour representatives.

"If they are unable to break the ice then they should come to the government before taking any hard decision," the minister said.

It is very known fact about West Bengal that here most of the companies locked out their factories due to trade union interference.

"Now in West Bengal this is not a general scenario. For the resurgence of industrial development in the state we have to solve every disputes by dialogues," he said.

He also indicated that his government is working on amendments of few old ´Labor Act´ and the ´Construction Workers Act´ to provide more liberty and minimum wages for labors.

(Reporting by Pratik Singh)