AITUC stages protest demanding immediate revision of minimum wages in Karnataka

Workers affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) staged a protest in Bengaluru on Thursday demanding the State government to immediately issue the final notification revising minimum wages and increase the variable dearness allowance (VDA).

A memorandum outlining their demands was submitted to the authorities.

Among the key demands, the workers urged the government to issue the final notification on minimum wage revision based on the draft notification issued on April 11, 2025, and to implement the revised wages retrospectively from 2022.

They also called for doubling the VDA rate from four paise to eight paise per Consumer Price Index (CPI) point, arguing that the present rate was inadequate to offset the impact of rising inflation and the increasing cost of essential commodities.

The unions further demanded that minimum wages be fixed based on the 2,700-calorie norm, in accordance with standards laid down by the Supreme Court to ensure that workers could meet basic needs such as food, clothing, housing, education and healthcare.

Another key demand was to address wage disparities affecting women workers, particularly in sectors such as garments, beedi rolling, agarbatti production and plantations, where labour groups said pay inequalities remain widespread.

The labour representatives pointed out that minimum wages in Karnataka were last revised in 2016-17, and the delay in updating them for nearly nine years had eroded workers’ real incomes.

Stressing that minimum wages were a constitutional right and not a form of charity, the protesters warned that the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to take immediate steps to address their demands.