Editorial November 2014

 EDITORIAL                                       THOTA HANUMAIAH   

DENOUNCE AND RESIST ANTI LABOUR AMENDMENTS I N LABOUR LAWS.

The NDA government led by BJP under the leader ship of shri Narendra Modi is bringing about drastic anti labour amendments in the existing labour laws so as to subject the working class to the oppression and exploitation of the foreign and Indian corporate companies for maximizing the profits of employers.

For that purpose the government is propagating falsehood by saying that the labour laws have become a stumbling block preventing the flow of investments from abroad as well as from India, Therefore, the laws should be amended to suit the needs of corporate interests, sothat, the investments will flow, productivity will grow, jobs will be created and the economy leaps forward. This false propagation is aimed at attacking the working class interest by facilitating the employers to hire and fire workmen and maximize their own profits, unabated.

Whereas the fact remains otherwise as these laws are being in vogue for the last several decades, the economy has grown up and the GDP rose from 6% to 9% during the period from 2005 to 2009.

The gullible propaganda of government that amendment of labour laws leads to greater productivity and creates jobs is nothing but Goebbels propaganda. Because we could see even in the railways, there were about 18 lack employees working in the year 1970 for keeping the railway services functioning round the clock.  Today the train services have increased multi fold, but the staff strength has been reduced to almost 12 lack employees. Thus it is a proof beyond doubt that amending labour laws on the pretext of inviting investments for increased productivity that creates employment would only lead to reduction of employment and the residual employees will be over burdened with the excess   work load.

On the other hand the amendments of labour laws will give free hand to the management to exploit the workers unabated, since whatever restrictions are there in the existing labour laws against the exploitation will be either altered or made toothless. In the result the ID Act 1947 will become redundant and adversely affects the HOER and the working conditions of railway men and in particular the locomen.The amendments to T U act 1926 threatens the workers of their right to form TUs for collective bargaining, as the changes stipulates higher percentage of membership for registration of TUs as against the existing stipulation of 7 members can form TU and register it. As a result a large work force will be deprived of forming and registering their choice of trade union. It also adversely affects the railway industry.

Similarly, the amendments bidding a goby  to the Minimum wages act,1948.In the result  the need to prescribe the minimum wages based on the recommendations of the 15^th ILC and the Supreme Court judgment delivered in the Raptokos Brett case will be done away with, as also the principle of equal pay for equal work and dearness allowance. In the result paltry amounts would be prescribed as minimum wage.

Amendment of Apprentices act, 1961 enables the employers to exploit youth by utilizing them as apprentices in place of regular workers, casual labour, and contract labour by paying them lower stipend and extracting full fledged work and their regularization would be uncertain.

As a result of labour law amendments, the need to maintain the registers and submission of regular returns pertaining to the implementation of labour laws in the industries is done away with, as also the regular inspection by labour inspectors/ labour commissioners, leaving the fate of worker’s working conditions in the hands of employers The labour laws are not alms given by ruling classes, but hard won and brought into existence through numerous struggles and sacrifices. They cannot be allowed to be taken away by the ruling classes.

Therefore the proposed labour law amendments have to be resisted unitedly, by all trade unions irrespective of their affiliations and stall them by all means.

                                                                                                          THOTA   HANUMAIAH.