Visakhapatnam: Academicians, unions term Labour Codes ‘anti-worker’
The Hindu
Undemocratic of Centre to take Ordinance route to pass Bills, says former V-C
Speakers at a seminar on ‘Impact of the Four Labour Codes on the Working Class’ opined that the four Labour Codes, brought out by the Centre, will deprive the working class of their rights and give a free hand to employers to suppress their rights.
The seminar was organised by the CITU District Committee at Alluri Vigyana Kendram at Dabagardens on Wednesday.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) Y. Satyanarayana, who participated as chief guest, opined that the Centre is making a mockery of democracy by taking the Ordinance route to pass Bills in Parliament.
CITU State president Ch. Narasinga Rao said that the Labour Codes would deprive the basic right of trade unions and workers like the right to bargaining and right to strike. The percentage of contract workers in various industries and the public sector, which was between 5% to 10% in the past, has gone up to more than 50% in a majority of PSUs and government organsations, he alleged.
The difference in wages between contract and regular workers was a minimum of four times for the same work. He described it as exploitation on the part of the government. “Fixed Term Employment is already being implemented in Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) for the last three years. An employee could be removed at any time during the period of contract,” Mr. Narasinga Rao said.
In the past, contract employees were also paid compensation but the Fixed Term Employment does not provide for any such thing, he claimed. Describing the ‘Agnipath’ scheme as ‘contractualisation of the Armed Forces’, he said that in the future, workers would have to serve a strike notice 60 days in advance and there would be no time frame for conciliation.
N. Nirmala, a retired Professor of Law, Andhra University, said that the four Labour Codes would legitimise the contractualisation of labour and said that ‘Fixed Term Employment’ would lead to job insecurity. The ‘hire and fire’ policies would sour relations between employers and employees, he said.