By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The trade unions with the exception of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha (BMS) have condemned the notification of the four new labour codes as the most unfair labour practice.
Expectedly, Opposition parties and many trade unions have demanded that they be revoked as the codes were “anti-worker, pro-corporate and imposed without democratic consultation”. Kerala has set the ball rolling by announcing that the State will not implement the ‘anti-labour new codes.
In his reaction, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has said that “the existing 29 labour-related laws have been repackaged and transformed into four codes. This is being presented as a revolutionary reform even though the rules for these codes have not yet been notified”.
Will the codes address the demands for a national minimum wage of Rs 400 per day, including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act?; Right to Health Act, under which universal health coverage of Rs 25 lakh will be provided; Employment Guarantee Act for urban areas; comprehensive social security for all unorganized workers, including life insurance and accident insurance; and commitment to end contract labour systems in core functions of Government departments.
The Modi Government should learn from the examples of Karnataka and the previous Rajasthan Government, which initiated pioneering steps towards 21st century labour reforms by enacting historic laws for gig workers, even before the new codes came into effect, he added.
The All India Forward Bloc has termed the move as a “unilateral imposition of anti-worker Codes”. AIFB general secretary G. Devarajan extended full support to the November 26 protest and called the move as a “blatant, unilateral and anti-democratic implementation of the codes”, which will not go unchallenged.
Devarajan said that the codes were anti-worker and pro-corporate legislations pushed forward under the deceptive slogan of “ease of doing business” while callously dismantled the hard-earned rights of India’s working class. He accused the Government of bypassing the trade unions, ignoring parliamentary debate and bulldozing these with a view to appease corporate monopolies and capitalist interests. It is a matter of grave concern that the Government refused to hold consultations with the trade unions and ignored the demand for convening the Indian Labour Conference.
On its part, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) has sought the immediate withdrawal of the codes, which seek to establish a “jungle raj” by unilaterally empowering the corporate class to bulldoze the rights and entitlements of workers.
The labour codes, the PB pointed out, dismantle 29 hard-earned labour laws which have , till now, gave some protection to the workers. Many limitations notwithstanding, the wages, working hours, social security, industrial safety, section-compliance mechanisms and collective bargaining were in place.
CPI general secretary D. Raja also strongly condemned the anti-worker move. These codes, Raja averred, constitute a direct assault on the hard-won labour rights and sound the death-knell for job security in India, adding that the measures will prove traumatizing, deepen insecurity and widen inequality across every sector.
Not surprisingly, while the trade unions except the BMs have called for a nationwide protest on November 26, the BMS has thought it fit to welcome it. Its contention: the broadening of wage coverage beyond scheduled employment and extension of social security protection to new and unorganised sectors reflect forward-looking reforms aligned with the aspirations of the modern workforce!
Let us now have a close look at the ground reality. These new laws will place big burden on smaller enterprises and the service sector. There is then the problem associated with immediate implementation of such sweeping changes. It is of utmost importance that the authorities need to be conciliatory rather than over- strict with defaulters.
The most striking – and appalling – feature of the new codes is that they have transformed themselves into being corporate-friendly and have become worker-hostile. The few positive steps it boasts however fail to offset the damage the codes inflict on the workers’ rights.
It is a matter of concern that the Indian Labour Conference has not been convened since 2015. The reasons are there for all to see. Many conditions being imposed by the new labour codes militate against those enshrined in the ILC.
Other anti-labour ‘reforms’ being sought to be pushed down the workers’ throats are given below. Working hours are being raised from 8 hours at present to 12 hours hereafter; More freedom for companies to hire and fire workers. Prior notice of 14 days has to be given for launching strikes and struggles. Failure to do so would result in imposition of hefty fines and imprisonment. Closures and lay-offs have been made easy in the name of ease of doing business.
Greater accent on contractualisation of jobs is another anti-worker step. In other words regular jobs would soon become a thing of the past. Workers’ access to avail legal remedies has been made extremely difficult and cumbersome. Union registration has also been made extremely hard. The powers of labour officers have been drastically reduced. Factories have been put out of legal ambit. ESI not mandatory in companies with less than 10 workers. (IPA Service)
