Union Labour Minister inaugurates UPASI conference Action on representations relating to the Minimum Wages Act can only be taken by State governments, said Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge in Coonoor on Sunday. He was inaugurating the 118th annual conference of the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI). Referring to the grievances of the planting community over the wage component adding considerably to the cost of production, he pointed...

Management agrees to set up two panels at Manesar plant The 14-day-long strike by workers of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's Manesar plant in which workers of Suzuki Powertrain India Limited and Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited joined, was called off in the early hours of Friday after the managements, the workers and the Haryana government arrived at separate tripartite agreements. Unrest had been festering at the Manesar plant since June, hampering car...

-PTI The 14-day-long strike at Maruti Suzuki India’s Manesar’s plant has been called off this morning following a tripartite agreement between the management, workers and the Haryana Government. As part of the agreement, the management has agreed to take back 64 permanent workers but another 30 will remain suspended. It has also been agreed that around 1,200 casual workers would also be reinstated, sources close to the talks said. Setting up of two...

-The Hindu   Nearly 20 years of campaigning against child labour in the fireworks industry has only driven the practice underground, a fact-finding study in Sivakasi conduced by a group of non-governmental organisations has said. Commissioned by Campaign Against Child Labour – Tamil Nadu, the study was jointly executed by members of Centre for Child Rights and Development (CCRD), NEED, Sivakasi, Human Rights Foundation, Indian Council for Child Welfare, Manitham of Sivaganga, and...

Fourteen-year-old Shafat Ahmad works as a domestic helper in the house of a Srinagar-based government employee in Kashmir. His younger sister embroiders shawls in an unregistered textile venture in her native village of Beeru. "When my father first brought me here, my employer promised to send me to school," Shafat told IPS. Though he is keen to pursue his education, he has yet to attend a single class. The Ahmed siblings' story...