-Press release by Working Peoples Charter (WPC) Network dated 23rd March, 2021 A statement on the condition of India’s migrant workforce one year after the COVID-19 lockdowns 24 March marks the anniversary of India’s harsh nationwide COVID-19 lockdown when we witnessed an unparalleled impact on the country’s poor, particularly internal migrants who comprise a 140 million-strong workforce. In 2020, India saw the largest urban-rural exodus in its history, with millions of workers...
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Corinne Vargha, director of the ILO’s International Labour Standards Department, interviewed by Nileena MS (CaravanMagazine.in)
-CaravanMagazine.in In May 2020, 10 central trade unions jointly wrote twice to Guy Ryder, the director general of the International Labour Organisation, drawing attention to the plight of migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis as well as the government’s dilution and suspension of labour laws. In May, several states—including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat—introduced sweeping changes in labour laws such as increasing the working hours from eight to 12. The...
More »Refining trade union strategies to strike a chord -KR Shyam Sundar
-The Hindu With labour law reforms set to change industrial relations, trade union responses must include social dialogue too Ten central trade unions (CTUs) have called for a nation-wide strike on November 26, 2020 to condemn what they consider to be the anti-people, and anti-labour economic policies of the government. This follows strikes in the coal and defence sectors protesting privatisation and the corporatisation policies of the government. It is essential to...
More »‘Cruel Farce’: Retrenched Workers May Have to Prove Re-skilling, says Report -Ronak Chhabra
-Newsclick.in The re-skilling fund, introduced through a new labour code bill, may end up discouraging workers from using it, fear experts. The re-skilling fund, introduced through the Industrial Relations (IR) Code Bill, 2020, with an aim to train the retrenched workers, may come with controversial provisions for the beneficiaries, including requiring them to produce a proof of conformity to the government, a media report on Monday has hinted. A retrenched worker, who takes...
More »New Labour Codes and Their Loopholes
-Economic and Political Weekly Every successive reform in labour laws fails to plug the loopholes. The passage of the three labour code bills by Parliament —the Industrial Relations Code (IRC) Bill, 2020, the Code on Social Security (CSS) Bill, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (OSHWCC) Bill, 2020—and the Code on Wages (CW) Bill enacted in 2019 is the first major milestone in labour market reforms in over...
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