Page 18 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Unit 1: Labour Welfare and Concept

Notes

Did u know? Countries with Higher Labour Standards
Countries having standards of labour higher than those envisaged under International
Labour Conventions, experience a special problem of ratification. In such countries,
acceptance of Conventions prescribing standards lower than the existing ones may involve
considerable political effort, as there is obviously little interest in the subject. Besides, it is
feared that the approval given to lower minimum standards will impair the authority of
the higher national standard. In case where ratification of a Convention necessitates a
change in the law of the land, legal difficulties are also encountered.

Much Work Remains to be Done
Caselet
–By: Bhanoji Rao

nternationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in India: Report for the WTO General
Council Review of the Trade Policies of India." A principal contention of the ITUC
Ireport is that India has not still ratified four of the eight Conventions of which the
most significant are that on workers' right to organise and to collective bargaining. The
Report acknowledges that the workers do have the legal right to organise, but this has
been in effect curtailed by unions not being recognised by the employers.
As per a 2001 amendment to the Trade Union Act of 1926, a trade union has to represent at
least 100 workers or 10 per cent of the workforce, whichever is less, compared to a minimum
of seven workers previously. The Report opines that the minimum requirement of 100
workers is very high by international standards. While the ITUC is welcome to have its
view about a free country like ours, the amendment ought to be looked at in the light of
how much more fragmentation and divisiveness will prevail if reasonable membership
strength is not to be placed as a consideration in organising a union.

It is important to recognise the simple fact that on the basis of the 10 per cent stipulation,
there can be as many as 10 unions in a firm, which is perhaps one way unionisation divides
the workers and finally does disservice to them. It would have been great if ICTU were to
insist on a small number of two or three unions in any establishment and also struggle to
achieve de-politicisation of the unions. As long as politics and unions go together, the
`manifesto' might take control over all else.
The Report laments that, in practice, only a small group of workers, employed in the
organised industrial sector, enjoys protection of its rights and that some 90 per cent of
workers are employed in informal employment relationships or in agriculture,
characterised by almost no union representation. The challenge is not one of enacting
laws that look great on paper, but prioritising the various components of the country's
development agenda. We need the transformation of the labour force in terms of education,
skills, income levels and provision of social security. Unionisation per se will do little for
all these.
The Report voices concern that `new employment sectors, such as call centres, the BPO
industry, the visual media and telecommunications, are not covered by any explicit
employment regulations, and employers obstruct the formation of unions'. The new sectors
have come up simply because of on-going (much delayed) international division of labour,
Contd...

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