Hundreds of workers gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday to protest against the four new labour codes implemented by the Centre on November 21.
The country has been witnessing a series of such protests against the new labour codes — Code on Wages, Code on Social Security, Industrial Relations Code, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code — cleared by the Parliament after over five years. The new ones have replaced 29 Central labour laws.
Workers said that these codes go against their welfare and make them susceptible.
“Around 80% of workers were unable to use the earlier laws for their benefit. In the Bawana industrial area, all factories usually have around 10-15 workers in a manufacturing unit aided with power. Since most were contractual, they could not avail any employee benefit. The new codes have increased the threshold for obtaining a factory licence from 10 workers to 20 for manufacturing units aided with power and from 20 to 40 for units without power. Now employees may be deprived from Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) and Provident Fund benefits,” said Yogesh Kumar (39), a worker and a member of the Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra.
The protest was organised by Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Abhiyan’, a joint platform of 13 workers’ organisations and trade unions.
Kumar added that the freedom to strike has also been taken away under the Industrial Relations Code. “Earlier, only workers associated with essential services had to give a 14-day notice before going on strike, but now it includes every other service,” he said, adding that this is limiting the freedom of workers.
Echoing similar concerns, Shreya Ghosh, a member of Centre for Struggling Trade Unions (CSTU) pointed out that shifts were already being stretched beyond eight hours and contractual workers laid off without retrenchment. “Now we can no more say that these are aberrations. Employers can now retrench workers without serving them a notice,” she said.
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Ghosh also said that a provision under the OSH Code, which now permits women to work in night shifts, before 6 am and beyond 7 pm, subject to their consent and provisions for safety, is “bizarre”. “No political party has till now promised a cheche facility. Then how is the new code practical enough to be implemented?” she said.
