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ILO's labour wing questions proposed trade union restrictions -Somesh Jha
-Business Standard

The govt's view is that the unions should be representatives of the workers who can negotiate with the management and raise issues concerning them

The labour wing of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Monday raised concerns over the Union government's proposal to restrict the entry of outsiders into the trade unions.

"The ILO convention clearly states that it should be up to the trade unions to decide about its structures and government shouldn't interfere. They should play the role of a facilitator," Raghwan, desk officer for Asia and the Pacific Region of ILO-Bureau for Workers' Activities (Actrav) told Business Standard.

Raghwan was speaking on the sidelines of the national trade union conference organised by the ILO's labour wing and Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

"It will be important to see what the government is referring to as external. This (proposal) may hinder the entry of a legitimate and elected member into the union," said the Director of ILO-Actrav Maria Helena Andre.

The government's proposal to the industrial relations Bill says only those people engaged or employed in an industry can become office bearers in the trade union in the formal sector and in the unorganised sector, only two outsiders can be office bearers.

Another proposal calls for disqualification of a person as an office bearer if she is already an office bearer of 10 other trade unions.

The Union government's view is that the unions should be representatives of the workers who can negotiate with the management and raise issues concerning them. "These should be a true reflection of the workers. It's not that you hijack the agenda by bringing people from outside. We are encouraging those who are stakeholders and involved with the workers to form unions," labour secretary Shankar Aggarwal had said in an interview to this publication last month. The labour ministry's move is also aimed to curb the politicization of the trade unions.

Andre said the Union government's labour law proposals have led the trade unions to prepare themselves in a better way. "Today, the trade union movement has to be technically prepared to propose laws and should push government to negotiate. The government's reform process has triggered the need for the trade unions to be better prepared," Andre said during her speech at the event.

Talking to Business Standard, she said the trade unions should be sufficiently consulted so that they are able to give their opinion during policy formulation. "No modern society can go on without taking into view of the workers," Andre said, "The trade unions say they haven't been sufficiently consulted in the process."

When asked about her overall views of the government's labour law proposals, Andre, however, said, "It is not our role to take a view on the reform process but it is up to us, in the ILO, to support the constituents to analyse the proposals on the table and to see how far they are in line with the principles of the international labour standards."

She said some proposals are not in line with international standards and the ILO is supporting the trade unions "in identifying the gaps that exist."

Andre said although labour reforms are a must but these should be biased and respectful of the international standards. "Although India has ratified 43 important ILO conventions but it still has to ratify some important conventions such as freedom of association, collective bargaining and protection of child labour. All these are key to make India an attractive country to invest in. The new laws can't ignore these instruments or go against them," she said.

The labour wing of the ILO is assisting the trade unions in preparing position paper on government's labour law reforms, industrial relations and industry development.

The Union government has proposed an industrial relations Bill to combine and amend three laws - Industrial Disputes Act, Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act and the Trade Unions Act. Some of the proposals strongly opposed by the trade unions include easing retrenchment norms for employers, curbing trade union formation and restricting strikes. In protest, the trade unions have called for a day strike on September 2.