The Life of Labour: Gig Workers to Come Under Labour Laws; Anganwadi Workers Beaten Up

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Half a million coal workers on strike, production grinds to a halt

Around half a million workers from Coal India Limited (CIL), state-owned coal companies and Singareni Collieries, Telangana went on strike on September 24 against the Union cabinet’s decision to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in coal mining and associated infrastructure under the automatic route.

“The strike was successful. Barely 1-2% attendance was registered, that too for just emergency services like security, medical staff or pump operators. Rail and road transport of coal is totally halted. As many as 2.7 lakh permanent and another around 2.25 lakh contract workers have participated in this,” D.D. Raamanandan of All India Coal Workers Federation told The Wire.

The strike caused a 35% loss in production at CIL, an executive told PTI. Read more about why the workers are opposing FDI in the coal sector here.

Police beat up Anganwadi workers in Jharkhand

In a recent video doing the rounds on social media, policemen armed with batons can be seen beating up women in what looks like a protest march. The Quint reported that these were Anganwadi Sevika Sahayaka Sangh workers in Ranchi, Jharkhand who have been protesting for over 40 days with a list of demands.

Female Anganwadi Sevika Sahayaka Sangh workers were beaten and punched by Jharkhand police in Jharkhand's Ranchi on 24 September.
They were on their 40th consecutive day of protest.

Read the full story here.
For @TheQuint https://t.co/h0kksjuFJV pic.twitter.com/PwdzFfYvCt

— Aishwarya S Iyer (@iyersaishwarya) September 24, 2019

The women are demanding recognition as government workers and minimum wages of Rs 18,000 per month for sevikas and Rs 9,000 for sahayaks (helpers). Anganwadi workers play a crucial role in the implementation of India’s ambitious Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme which aims to deliver early education, health and nutrition services across the country through a network of around 1.3 million Anganwadi centres.

Anganwadi workers are paid a fixed honorarium that varies from state to state. Rs. 18,000 as minimum wages and recognition as permanent workers have been long standing demands of these workers across the country.

This ground report published in The Wire last year offers useful insights into the lives of the workers and their demands.

Bank workers' strike deferred after finance secretary’s assurance

A 48-hour strike by bank officers’ organisations that was scheduled to start at midnight on September 25 has been deferred after finance secretary Rajeev Kumar’s assurance. The strike was in response to the government’s announcement regarding merger of ten public sector banks into four big creditors of global scale and other demands regarding wage revision and service conditions.

A joint statement by the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) said that a “positive and workable solution” was suggested by Kumar in a meeting with representatives of the four organisations.

“The issues related to mergers, wage revision, the full mandate from the remaining five banks, incorporation of Section 17(A) of PC Act, 2018, as a part of the service conditions, introduction of full five-day week, reduction of cash transaction hours, issues related to retirees and also scrapping of selling of third party products were discussed threadbare,” the statement added. 

Workers in the garment sector stare at uncertain future amid layoffs

Job losses have been reported in various sectors due to an unprecedented slowdown in the economy. The automobile and textile sectors have reportedly been severely affected, with mass layoffs of contractual and temporary workers.

The Wire visited Udyog Vihar Phase-I in Haryana, one of the hubs of the garment industry in North India, to speak to people working in the garment sector. Here’s a video report detailing what has caused this ‘extraordinary’ situation.

A delay in Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds, causing a liquidity crunch, is one of the main reasons for the slowdown in production in garment units. Cuts in duty drawback and state levy have also impacted the sector. In addition to these, there’s a flight of the industry to neighbouring countries due to cheap labour, better technology and tax benefits. Business owners say they are disappointed with the neglect and lack of encouragement from the government.

Gig workers set to come under labour laws, get social security benefits

The labour and employment ministry released a preliminary draft of Code on Social Security, 2019 last week where it has recognised “gig workers” and “platform workers”. These terms have never been used in any of the country’s labour laws before.

The draft defines a gig worker as “a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship.” Gig or platform workers are those workers who are engaged in the “sharing economy”, usually through a technology platform. Uber, Ola drivers and food delivery executives working with platforms like Swiggy and Zomato are popular examples of such workers. These workers are not recognised as employees and are currently not entitled to any benefits or social security.

“According to the draft Bill, gig and platform workers will be entitled to life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old-age protection, and 'other benefits', as determined by the central government, which will frame social security schemes for them. However, since gig workers are part of the unorganised sector, they will not be entitled to benefits under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Employees’ State Insurance schemes,” Business Standard reported.

Platform economy is often blamed for creating precarious jobs and there have been protests around the world by gig workers demanding recognition as employees. While the move by the labour ministry is being hailed as a step in the right direction by many, it might be too soon to comment as the draft barely touches upon the issue.

International news

Google walkout organisers say they're facing retaliation

Two Google employees have alleged that the company is retaliating against them for organising a walkout last year against its mishandling of sexual harassment claims. Wired has published the full text of the email sent by Meredith Whittaker and Claire Stapleton, two of the seven organisers of the walkout.

Following this letter, 45 more employees have come out with their accounts of “sexual harassment, gaslighting, broken promises of promotion, gender-based discrimination, and racism,” at the company. A document, called Retaliation Stories, highlights cases of retaliation as part of an internal campaign.

UK’s Labour party commits to 32-hour working week

"We should work to live, not live to work. As society got richer, we could spend fewer hours at work," shadow chancellor John McDonnell said while announcing that a labour government will reduce the average work-week to 32 hours without loss of pay. The average UK full-time working week is 42.5 hours versus an EU average of 41.2.

Extra reading

Understanding the concept of employment

Menopausal women 'should get flexible work hours'

Minimum wage debate engulfs embattled garments industry

Journalists are losing jobs by the dozen. What’s happening?

In an increasingly ageist India, professionals are struggling to cope with mid-career stagnation

Watch: History of Technological Revolutions and the Future of Work

In Gurugram, workers stare at an uncertain future as the auto sector faces slowdown

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