Dr. S. Saraswathi
Ten Central Trade Unions have announced a nationwide general strike on November 26 as a protest against the recent labour codes law passed by Parliament. They are mainly sore over diminution of their right to strike.
Three labour codes have been passed by Parliament in the last week of this session, and one on wages was adopted in August 2019. Union Minister for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar stated that codification of labour laws will help remove red-tape and rigidities in law so as to make establishment of big factories easier. The objective of self-reliant India, promotion of Make in India project, the climate of ease of doing business – all require labour law reforms. The task is to promote industries and safeguard labour rights. The two are not antagonistic to each other.
India has ratified the Tripartite Consultations (International Labour Standards) Convention 1976, and is hence bound to consult stakeholders like trade unions in law-making. Labour laws must be based on social dialogue. Opposition members were not present in Parliament when the bills were passed. But, the Parliamentary Committee on Labour, which comprises a large contingent of 31 members, had gone through the bills. Extensive discussions with all stakeholders were also done.
The three codes relate to three major aspects of industrial sector — industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, and health and working conditions, and comprise 25 labour laws. Another code on wages adopted earlier includes four laws. Health coverage of workers is a separate scheme under Ayushman Bharat and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
Over 70 per cent of India’s workers in the service and industrial sectors are estimated to be in informal jobs, according to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. This sector suffers from unhygienic and hazardous working conditions, lack of social security for workers and low wages. The idea of codifying labour laws was given in the report of the Second Labour Commission (2002) set up by the Vajpayee government in 1999. Codification can bring about cohesion of the laws passed at different times and eliminate complexities due to different criteria for coverage under labour laws and introduce uniformity. It will also help identify gaps and discrepancies.
The first labour code was adopted in Soviet Union in 1918 which ensured the right to work and then in many socialist countries in central and east Europe. Canada adopted a labour code in 1985 superseding the Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigating Act 1948.
A key element of the Social Security Code, which covers nine laws, is expansion of security cover to unorganised workers and their families. It includes a proposal to define ‘migrant worker’ and to enlarge the scope of the current scheme of including only contractual employment to cover all those outside the organised sector. The provision for temporary accommodation near worksites has been removed, but a journey allowance from their homes to place of work is added. Registration of all unorganised and platform workers and insurance, maternity, and crèche facilities and old age protection are provided.
Inter-state workers and contract labourers are given equal statutory benefits in addition to existing benefits. Contract workers cannot be employed in core activities. Number of days of work to get earned leave has been reduced from 240 to 180. There cannot be gender discrimination in wages.
Codification of labour laws has come at a time when labour rights are receiving big blows under the pandemic. Some states have even suspended labour laws for varying lengths of time. Trade unions object to cancellation of labour laws and the ILO has appealed to PM Modi against diluting labour protective laws.
A major change which has brought the trade unions together to fight against the entire exercise of codification, pertains to the right to strike. The threshold relating to layoffs and retrenchment in industrial establishments is raised as 300 workers from the present 100 providing more flexibility to employers for hiring and firing without government permission.
On the whole, the codes are labour-friendly and also helpful to industries.
The writer is a former director, ICSSR, New Delhi. INFA