Will India Ratify ILO C87 and C98? A Riddle Unresolved…!

Abstract

6 | International Union Rights | 26/3 TOWARDS UNIVERSAL RATIFICATION OF C87 AND 98 Will India Ratify ILO C87 and C98? A Riddle Unresolved…! ‘In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work’. It provides no ‘rights’ and no ‘works’. its purpose is to destroy labour unions and the freedom of collective bargaining. We demand this fraud be stopped’, Martin Luther King Jr. On 6 October 2019, K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief minister of the State of Telangana, in a highlevel meeting with officials of the transport department announced the dismissal of 48,140 employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) and said that ‘TSRTC will have only 1200 employees as its staff’. The announcement was in retort to the indefinite strike by different employees’ and workers’ unions of the TSRTC which began on 4 October 2019 across Telangana, following a call given by the Joint Action Committee of the corporation, demanding merger of the RTC with the government and recruitment to various posts, among other things. In India almost all genuine agitations and protests by the working class are seen as a challenge to the ruling governments. The working class constantly faces the wrath of the government. In a shocking response to the TSRTC workers’ agitation, the official release from the Chief Minister’s office stated — that the government would soon recruit new staff for the RTC and the new recruits would have to work on probation for a certain period and they should give an undertaking that they would not join any employees’ unions. Unionisation = Intimidation Forming unions or associations of the working class, is still considered an irritant, and if the unions are genuine, then starts the conflict with the workers, where the management and the government act hand in glove against them. They use every means available (brutal suppression, union busting, dismissal, attacks by bouncers, police brutality and jail) to break the morale of the workers. The eight year long, struggle for justice by around 500 permanent workers and 2000 odd contract workers of the multinational automobile giant Maruti Suzuki India limited1 — from its plant in Manesar, in the state of Haryana, still continues. The workers of many automobile industry plants — Honda, Bajaj, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai Motors, Ricco …etc — have faced many such brutalities, in the last decade. Set aside the automobile sector, consider the garment sector in India, which is one among the world’s largest producers of textiles and garments. According to government sources 2 percent of India’s GDP, 27 percent foreign exchange and 11 percent of export earnings is from domestic textiles and apparel industry. A report of the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) released on 18 July 2018 on a garment factory operated by Shahi Exports in Bangalore, Karnataka, found that there had been a violent campaign against workers’ at Shahi’s Unit 8 factory, for their organising attempts with the Karnataka Garment Workers Union. WRC investigation found that they were subjected to physical beatings, sexual abuse, death threats, gender and caste based abuse, threats of mass termination, dismissals etc. This is one case that came to limelight due to WRC’s intervention. Numerous other garment workers, across India, face similar atrocities. These are not isolated incidents; similar is the condition of a large majority of the unorganised sector workforce in India. Much visible difference is not seen in the organised sector too, when it comes to issues of unionisation and rights of its workers. Constitutional Rights As per Article 19 of Indian Constitution, the Right to Freedom is a fundamental right for Indian citizens, which includes: (a) freedom of speech and expression; (b) assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) form associations or unions; (d) move freely throughout the territory of India; (e) reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; and (g) practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. But, quashing a union/formation which is rightful under Article 19 (c), is done by pointing to clause 4 of Article 19 which states that ‘however, the State may by law impose reasonable restrictions on this right in the interest of...