Disempowering Trade Unions by Law: A Death Blow to Workers' Rights

Abstract

14 | International Union Rights | 27/4 FOCUS | TITLE OF FOCUS Disempowering Trade Unions by Law: A Death Blow to Workers’ Rights “Lend me a magnifying glass, please…I am searching for an Indian Trade Union!” If the ongoing labour scenario persists, will this be the India’s future predicament? This situation may sound unimaginable for a country like India, with 468 million working population, 16,154 registered trade unions and countless unregistered ones because 93 per cent of the workforce belongs to the unorganised sector. A major grievance of the central trade unions, and independent federations and associations of various sectors against the Bharatiya Janata Party government is that it has failed to respond to the unions, and has refused to dialogue with any of them, thus far. According to the unions, the government undermines tripartism. This becomes quite obvious in the government’s lassitude in holding the Indian Labour Conference (ILC). No ILC has been held in the last four years. Instead, the government continues its aggressive attack on the lives and livelihoods of the working people. The unions are convinced that the government will go to any extent to amend the labour laws and make them pro-employer. And not without cause. The attitude of the government is reflected in the haste with which 44 Central laws were codified into four, disregarding all suggestions by the trade unions. These amendments have been made in such a way that regular employment and job security becomes a Utopian concept. An overview of the policies, rules, regulations, the new labour codes and amended labour legislations (abetted by an unsympathetic bureaucratic attitude of the Government of India) will reveal the current condition of the working class in India. New Legislations— What Benefit to Workers? The Ministry of Labour and Employment, in line with the recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour, brought in four Labour Codes—the Code on Wages; the Code on Industrial Relations, the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, and the Code on Social Security—by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalising the relevant provisions of the existing Central Labour Laws. Both the houses—the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha—passed the Codes; these then got the Presidential nod to become laws. According to Mr. Santhosh Kumar Gangwar, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, the Labour Codes have been enacted with a view to balance the interests, rights and obligations of employees and the employers in the country and it will prove to be an important milestone for the welfare of the workers, and a historic game-changer that will harmonise the needs of workers, industries and other related parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted and spoke on many occasions that the labour reforms will ensure ease of doing business and that these futuristic legislations will empower enterprises by reducing compliance, red-tapism and ‘Inspector Raj’. According to him, this long-overdue and muchawaited -for labour reforms will harness the power of technology for the betterment of the workers and industry, ensure the well-being of industrial workers and boost India’s economic growth. Why then did the working class rise up as one and protest against these four legislations? Subsuming 44 labour legislations into four is what the government did by introducing the new Labour Codes. Let us take a closer look at what these Codes entail. The Code on Wages 2019 was notified in the Gazette of India on 8 August 2019. It was formulated by integrating four existing legislations—Payment of Wages Act 1936, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Payment of Bonus Act 1965, and Equal Remuneration Act 1976. Contrary to the earlier Acts, which cover only 40 per cent of the employees, the new code on wages is expected to cover all sections of the workforce, that is, around 50 million workers. One among the unique feature, as claimed by the government is, a national floor level wage to be fixed by the central government and the state government, while deciding on the minimum wages, cannot go beyond it, but can increase it as it to suit the specific state government requirement. The trade unions say the wage code has been formulated...