By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has started meeting representatives of Central Trade Unions seeking their co-operation for early implementation of the four labour codes, which were put on hold by Modi government during its entire second term due to a range of issues including stiff resistance from the joint platform of 10 Central Trade Unions. The Ministry has also convened meeting with CTUs on July 25-26 to discuss all aspects of their implementation.
To begin with, Union Minister of Labour Mansukh Mandaviya met the representatives of RSS-BJP supported Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) earlier this week. BMS general secretary Ravindra Himte has said in a press release that they had demanded early implementation of the Code on Wages 2019 and the Code on Social Security 2020.
However, he has said that the Industrial Relations Code 2020 and Occupational Safety and Health Code 2020 contained many anti-worker provisions which needed to be rectified before their implementation. “The OSH code also advances very much on safety and health concerns of workers, but the threshold limit prescribed in the code limits the benefits so provided. The BMS also demanded detailed consultations with all trade unions on Labour Codes and to implement the codes at the earliest rectifying the defects,” Mr. Himte has said.
Union Labour secretary Ms Sumita Dawra met the representatives of Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) on Wednesday. After the meeting, the National Secretary of SEWA Ms Manali Shah has said that SEWA is totally opposed to the four labour codes, and we have conveyed it to the Union Labour Secretary.
During the meeting SEWA representative told the Union Labour Secretary that there was a lack of social security measures in the labour codes for unorganised and migrant workers. SEWA has also submitted a memorandum which read, “The current social security legislation fails to adequately safeguard their rights as State policies and laws concerning social security offer no specific provisions for migrant workers. Both migrant workers crossing State borders and workers employed outside India face similar deprivation of protection under social security laws and schemes.”
Before the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment started meeting the representatives of the central trade unions early this week, the joint platform of the 10 Central Trade Unions (CTUs) – INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC – had written a letter last week to the Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya urging him to address the workers’ pending issues. “We hereby request you to call a meeting jointly with all the Central Trade Unions for the opportunity of interaction with you and to put forth burning issues of labour for your kind attention for necessary actions thereon,” the letter read.
Several of the issues of the workers remain unresolved and in this backdrop implementation of the four labour codes would further worsen the living condition of the workers, maintains AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur. AITUC has demanded that Centre should immediately convene Indian Labour Conference, which was held just once in the last 10 years. “It is the tripartite forum of workers, government and employers held every year, but the Narendra Modi government organised it just once. We urge Mr. Mandaviya to hold the ILC rather than meeting CTUs individually,” she said.
It is worth recalling that the four controversial labour codes were got passed in the Parliament of India in 2019 and 2020 without consulting ILC, though it was the highest tripartite body in the country on the labour issues. Central Trade Unions were also ignored by the government while the codes were being prepared. PM Narendra Modi himself had said that the codes were the biggest labour reform in the independent India, that would ease of doing business, and tremendously benefit the workforce. On the other hand, the joint platform of the CTUs has been protesting their implementation alleging that the codes are pro-corporate and anti-labour, and it would bring economic slavery and much hardship to the workforce.
The joint platform of the CTUs has been protesting the codes and even resorted to all India strike actions in the past. Even during the Lok Sabha election 2024 campaign, CTUs campaigned against PM Narendra Modi and his party BJP, since their return in power for the third term was fraught with intended implementation of the code after the government takes over.
Modi government have been insisting on implementing the codes, but had to put them on hold, first on account of COVID-19 crisis. Since labour is in concurrent list of the Constitution of India, states needed to frame their rules, but were busy in tackling the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, they could not frame their rules. Some of the opposition ruled states are not happy with certain provisions of the codes. This delayed framing and notifying the rules by states. Some of the states are yet to frame and notify the rules. The Centre has now said that it is helping those stated which could not draft the rules to complete the process. Another reason for putting the implementation on hold is that business and industries associations have demanded some time to prepare themselves for the new codes.
Even during the pre-budget consultation by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the 10 CTUs have demanded in their joint memorandum that all the four labour codes must be repealed and scraped. Trade Unions will continue to oppose the pro-corporate labour codes, National Secretary of AITUC, C Srikumar has said. (IPA Service)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
