The Life of Labour: ASHA, Anganwadi Workers Disappointed With Pay Hike Announcement

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Central government increases stipend for ASHA and Anganwadi Workers

The Central government announced that it would raise its share of honorarium to ASHA workers from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,500 and for those getting Rs. 2,200 it will increase to Rs 3,500. The Anganwadi helpers will see an increase from Rs 1,500 a month to Rs. 2,500 a month. ASHA workers are also supported further by the state governments, which vary widely. ASHA workers had joined the farmers, last week, on a massive rally demanding better wages and recognition of their work.

They were demanding a minimum wage of Rs, 18,000 in line with the minimum wage declared by the 7th pay commission for government employees. The unions representing the workers have said they are disappointed with this paltry increase in wages.

Illustration by Aliza Bakht

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The ASHA workers are the backbone of the rural primary health care system in India. They fulfil a wide range of roles that a primary health centre does while being mobile and reaching remote parts of the states. While many studies have recognised the critical role of the ASHA and Anganwadi workers in securing public health, they remain very poorly paid.

Four more perish to manual scavenging in an elite gated community in Delhi

India’s stark inequality was blatantly exposed yet again when four workers perished attempting to clean a septic tank in the luxury gated community of DLF Capital Greens, in New Delhi. One more was admitted in a critical condition at a nearby hospital. Even though manual scavenging is legally abolished and the law clearly establishes the guilt of any person who employs workers in such a task, it continues to prevail. Such transgressions are facilitated by the administration that continues to file such incidents as ‘accidents due to negligence’ rather than a homicide. In this case, the police have refused to file the cases under the relevant sections of the manual scavenging abolition act. It only goes to show the systemic bias towards using workers as expendable tools. Here is a detailed article in Firstpost on the deceased workers.

Labour ministry moves ahead with amendments even as the trade unions boycott meeting

All the left central trade unions boycotted a meeting with the labour ministry demanding that INTUC be invited for these consultations. Ever since the NDA government has taken office, the labour ministry has attempted to exclude INTUC, the trade union wing of the Indian National Congress, in discussions, citing technical reasons. The meeting was proposed to discuss certain changes to the Trade Union Act that the government is pushing ahead. While the government claims that these would make trade unions more formal, the central trade unions believe that the amendments will make it even harder for workers to form unions. They also claim that the amendments are vague, opening the scope for misinterpretation. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the RSS affiliated trade union that did not boycott the meeting, has agreed to the amendments.

Auto workers strike for trade union recognition

Permanent workers at Myoung Shin India, a supplier to Hyundai, have struck work since September 6 demanding that the management recognise their union and have a formal wage negotiation with the union. The company that has hitherto dealt with workers through the ‘works committee’ is reticent to engage with the union. They have unilaterally announced a wage settlement which is not agreeable to the workers. Many industries in the Sriperumbudur, Irrungatokottai industrial region refuse to recognise independent trade unions and attempt to undermine them through various means, including lockouts, closures and delaying tactics at the labour department.

Indian employees lead the hardest workers list

A recent survey has found that while in most developed and developing countries the workers feel the work week should be four or less, Indians are willing to slog five days a week even if there is an option to work just four. Over 63% of Indians said they are comfortable with a five-day week, whereas the number dropped below 50% for all the other workers from seven other countries. Most of them felt that a four-day workweek was the ideal situation, and they would be willing to take an extra day off even if it meant a cut in wages. However, most Indians were not interested in an extra day off.

Mixed response to Bharat Bandh

The All India Bandh and Strike call by the opposition parties led by the INC and the left trade unions had a mixed response from the workers, with most states having a negligible impact on day to day life. The Bharat Bandh had been called to protest the government’s lack of response to the spiralling fuel prices that was severely affecting the working population. The strike was reported to have had an impact in half a dozen states ruled by the opposition parties. The strike was also partially successful in Bihar and Assam, where NDA is in power. In Tamil Nadu, the strike was ineffective as the transport workers decided to not strike work but merely participate in protest demonstrations. The shops were also mostly open except in a few districts. When Thozhillalar Koodum spoke to workers, they expressed a strong resentment against the fuel price rise but did not feel the Bandh was a method to fight the central government.

Updates and other news

6 workers die of a boiler blast in UP

6 workers died and many suffered injuries in a chemical factory in UP after a boiler that was being repaired blew. According to officials, two more workers are under observation as they remain critical. The administration has initiated an investigation. In the absence of a robust safety protocol and a diligent team enforcing the norms, it is unlikely that occupation safety improves in India.

Over 300 health workers arrested in Chandigarh to break strike

With the strike by Multi-Purpose Health Workers entering the second week, the Haryana government has cracked down on them by invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act and arresting 382 workers across the state. The state government, which has always used a strong-arm tactic in dealing with workers’ agitations, resorted to this coercive method after the strike was not withdrawn. The workers are demanding that the state recognise them as technical workers, regularise their employment after two years and hike their wages.

Delhi government appeals to Supreme Court on minimum wage notification

The Delhi government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against the High Court judgement quashing a notification on the Minimum Wages Advisory Committee and another on the enhancement of minimum wages in the capital. In its petition, the Delhi government says the committee formed by it was "broad-based" which included representatives from ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India), FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), PHD Chamber of Commerce and other organisations. The Delhi High Court had quashed the notification that would have raised the minimum wages in Delhi by nearly 50%. The order had caused uncertainty among wage workers, who had seen their wages improve over the past year.

Pricol workers besiege labour office

Workers from the Coimbatore District Pricol Thozhilalar Ottrumai Sangam have been protesting for more than 15 days and are now taking the fight to the labour office. ToI reports that “the company had implemented a partial lockout against 144 of them as they had staged a demonstration on August 14 seeking that the company hold tripartite talks and also give them the stalled benefits.”

Elgaar Parishad case: Left-backed employees’ unions protest, demand rights activists’ release

Workers and members of various organisations like the Kirti Kisan Union, Social Rights Sabha Punjab, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Punjab Kisan Union and several other employees’ unions in Chandigarh protested against the actions of the union government and demanded the release of the activists Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Prof Varavara Rao and Vernon Gonsalves. Indian Express reports that “the protesters also alleged that the real culprit of the Bhima-Koregaon violence was Shamba Ji Bhide and he must be arrested with immediate effect.”

International news

Amazon's patent for caging workers was a "bad" idea, exec admits

A patent submitted by Amazon in 2016 has been making the news for proposing that warehouse workers be kept in ‘cages’ while they work. A company executive wrote about it saying that “sometimes even bad ideas get submitted for patents”, but that the intention of the design was to keep workers safe.

Amazon has been in the news before for the absurd difference in wages between its highest and lowest paid workers. Amazon workers all over the world have been announcing strikes asking for decent working conditions and pay. Meanwhile, it has been reported that the company is now valued at $1 trillion, while “approximately one in ten of its Ohio employees appeared to be receiving public assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefits Program”, a program meant for Americans living below the poverty line.

About 2,000 illegal Indian workers arrested in Oman in 2017

More than 27,000 migrant workers were arrested in Oman last year for violating labour laws. “Of the 27,837 arrests that took place in 2017, the maximum number of persons came from Bangladesh, with 20,557 violations. Pakistan came second with 3,285 of its citizens violating Oman’s labour laws. India stood third with as many as 1,955 violators. The rest 1,040 workers were of other nationalities, the report said.” Little India reports that most of the men who were arrested worked in construction, retail, manufacturing and food, while the women worked in education, health, social services and retail. Violations were mostly because workers absconded from work, or because they were working on a tourist visa.

Weekend reading

The end of the American dream?

It's been a decade since the financial crisis that plunged the world economy into the worst recession since the Great Depression. The US economy seems to have recovered from the fall. The unemployment numbers are falling, the stocks scaling new heights, the dollar strengthening across the board and the housing markets once again on a steady wicket. However, this government-funded recovery has not come along with a strong middle class riding on increasing wages and consumption. Wages have stagnated, making wage work an unviable prospect to improve living standards for the vast majority. Instead, it has been the profits from investments and increasing stock valuations that has caused a turnaround in the economy. This article posits if the age of the working person, improving their lives on the strength of wage work has come to an end. In other words, is this the end of the American dream?

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