The wage agreement MoU of SAIL, which includes workers from the Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL), is stuck in a 'tug of war' of the unions. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) oppose the agreement. In contrast, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) unions signed it on 3 November.
During the NJCS meeting in New Delhi on the 21st and 22nd of October, union members signed an agreement for a 13 percent MGB and a 26.5 percent perks increase. Later, union members promised to pay the arrears by 19 November. But workers have yet to get their arrears, and there is increasing resentment among the workers for not being paid. BD Prasad, General Secretary of CITU, described the wage settlement MoU as anti-labour and stated discrepancies in the MoU that should be discussed again.
CITU will stage a protest on November 16, demanding that the Memorandum of Understanding be cancelled, he said.