New Delhi: Strongly condemning the decision to permit lay-off, retrenchment and closure of industrial units employing upto 1,000 employees without obtaining clearance from the government, Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) on February 23 warned that the proposal would grant blanket right of hire and fire to industrial establishments.

"If this proposal is approved by Parliament, it would grant blanket right of hire and fire to industrial establishments employing 85 per cent of the organised workers in the country," the party's politburo said in a statement.

It said the "non-chalant" attitude taken by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government "to please the World Bank bosses" would only invite powerful confrontation with the working class of the country.

The party appealed to trade unions to protest against the "atrocious" piece of legislation so that the Vajpayee government was prevented from attacking the trade union and Democratic rights of the working class.

PTI