The Life of Labour, a compilation of important labour developments from around the world, will be delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 10 am. Click here to subscribe.

India Wage Report: Key points

The International Labour Organisation released the India Wage Report earlier this week. It is a detailed analysis of India’s employment and wage distribution with recommendations to improve labour market conditions and wages of workers. This year’s report titled, ‘Wage Policies of Decent Work and Inclusive Growth’ documents the falling wage rate to productivity that has led to a declining share of wage income in the GDP. It has also pointed out that trade union membership, though marginally up, remains at just 10% of the total workforce. The report highlights the need to improve wages for achieving the objective of ‘inclusive growth’ and suggests, among other things, strengthening the collective bargaining process by a more robust and enforceable minimum wage framework and improve data on employment and wages.

The findings of the report have initiated discussion and debate in the academic and media circles. Articles in The Wire and Scroll discuss the findings related to the disparities in wages between contract workers and regular workers, the gender wage gap and the low wage rate that is declining in comparison to increase in productivity. These are highlighted as the major obstacles to inclusive growth in India. An article in Counter View discusses the aspects around trade unions in the report that suggests that the low level of trade union membership in India is the result of active efforts by the industries to relocate to low union regions, de-incentivise union membership and victimise union leadership.

Waluj violence: Scapegoating the workers?

The Maharashtra Bandh, called by the Maratha Kranti Morcha earlier this month had led to violence and vandalism in parts of Pune and Aurangabad. Many industrial units in Waluj Industrial estate had been targeted. The Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) claimed heavy losses due to damage by vandals and the workers allege that the management has teamed up with the police to implicate workers. The MKM leadership has already tried to distance itself from this by stating that ‘anti-social’ elements misused the protest to vent their anger against the factories. The police using CCTV footage have arrested scores of workers and claim that many of them are either former or current workers in the very premises in which they indulged in violence. The police have begun a process of compiling data on labourers and contractors in order to prevent such occurrences in the future. While the police have begun a challenging and costly surveillance process, it begs the question why is there little willingness to resolve the unrest among workers regarding low wages and working conditions that led to the protest in the first place?

Five government agencies held responsible for Bawana fire

The Delhi Government’s internal investigation report on the Bawana fire accident in January that led to the death of 17 workers has identified systemic lapses in five critical departments of the Delhi government as being a passive cause for the incident. The departments identified are the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the Delhi Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation, the labour department, the fire service and the police. It has identified severe lapses in licencing and monitoring the growth of factories in such clusters, while also highlighting the inadequate response from the fire and police departments. While the AAP Government has asked the investigating team to further identify the responsible officers in each department, it is important to note that systemic gaps need to be fixed early if such accidents are to be prevented in the future.

10 million in but 6 million out: The politics over employment data

The government has released the data from EPFO revealing that 6.04 million accounts unsubscribed over the ten months ending June of this year. The data was released after criticism arose over government claims that 10 million jobs were created over the past year, using EPFO enrolment data. At that time, apart from many other points, critics had pointed out that the method of using EPFO data does not capture the loss or transfer of jobs. The new data released reduces the jobs created to a little over 4 million. It is estimated, using Census 2011 data, that India has to create 12 million jobs every year for the next decade to meet the growth in the working population.

RSS affiliated trade union BMS to stage protest against Fixed Term Employment

Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the trade union affiliate of RSS, has come strongly in opposition to Fixed Term Employment stating that the government policies have effectively made contract jobs the default option for hiring workers. The NDA government had pushed through the amendments in labour laws to allow companies to hire workers on fixed tenure instead of permanent employment. This was enabled by amending sections of the labour laws and rules bypassing parliamentary scrutiny. All major unions have come out against FTE and have announced a joint campaign. BMS, although opposing the amendments, has decided to stage a separate protest on September 6.

Are petroleum companies mining workers’ data?

Dealers of petroleum companies have been clamouring against an order by the oil marketing companies, seeking a broad range of information about workers employed in the retail outlets. In an NDTV report, dealers have alleged that the companies are threatening to stop petrol supplies if the dealers do not comply by providing information including Aadhar numbers, religion and constituency of workers in the petrol stations. The dealers, after protesting the said order, are taking the issue to the courts citing that sensitive and confidential information cannot be shared. The order is ostensibly issued on behalf of the National Skill Development Corporation. The order claims that the workers are going to be processed through a certification process that will formally certify that these workers have the required skills to do the job they are currently engaged in. This is labelled as ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ in a joint scheme mooted by oil marketing companies and the NSDC. Given the significant failure of the Skill Development Initiative of the government, with less than 29 lakh persons taking the courses and less than 21% of them finding employment, some argue that it is a way to pad up the numbers before the elections. It still begs the question, why do the companies need Aadhar, caste, religion and electoral constituency data?

Updates and other news

Kerala floods wash away many livelihoods too

The flood waters in Kerala have receded but it has left behind a terribly devastated population. Apart from the hundreds of lives washed away by the floods, it has also deprived many of their livelihoods by destroying the material basis of employment or the tools necessary for labour. One such population is the migrant workers who might have been saved from the deluge but will have to survive the drought in jobs that will ensue. Here is an article about migrant workers from West Bengal who stare at a bleak future in the coming days and months.

Kerala floods: Support from the working class

Last week we had reported about the work of the fishers in rescue and relief. They have been commended by the people and recognised by the state for their daring and selfless work. But over the past week, the workers across India have also shown their camaraderie with Kerala’s workers, with aid flowing in human, material and monetary form. Even as the governments fight over the allocation of aid, the workers have taken their buckets and piggy banks to raise money for the people of Kerala.

The United Nurses Association has deployed union members to key affected regions to assess the situation while also help in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. As public health is going to be a major challenge in the coming days, the effort is an essential part of overall effort to relieve Kerala from the effects of the flood.

While many workers in Tamil Nadu have offered a day’s salary towards relief funds, others have collected materials and shipped to Kerala’s relief camps. Even trainees have organised collection drives near their factories to contribute to the flood victims. Thozhillalar Koodum has documented contributions made by workers across Tamil Nadu.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank Employees have pledged 6 days’ salary amounting to a total of Rs. 11 crores to be sent to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The Central Railway employees have also decided to donate part of their salaries to the relief fund.

MNC in hot waters for evading PF contributions

Hyderabad-based infrastructure firm MW High Tech Projects India, a subsidiary of German engineering and construction company M W Group, is being investigated for withholding provident fund payments and other benefits from workers in the last four years and flouting other compliance norms. Top government officials told ET that the labour ministry has taken cognisance of the matter and initiated proceedings against the fraud.

Migrant labourers’ strike might leave sugar mills in trouble

Sugar mills in Maharashtra employ large numbers of intrastate migrants during the harvest season for various activities in the production of sugar. This year, the mills might be in trouble with migrant labourers, organised by the CITU, demanding an increase in wages and social security net through a welfare board. CITU has given notice to the Sugar Mills Cooperative Federation, informing of their plans to go on strike given that their demands have not been heeded by either the cooperative federation or the government.

Maruti Suzuki workers raise money for the families of their incarcerated comrades

On August 22, the Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union announced financial support to the tune of Rs. 45,50,000 for the families of the 13 Maruti workers who are currently serving life sentence in jail. These workers, who actively took part in the organised struggle for rights of the workers against the company, were sentenced to life imprisonment in relation to the death of Ashwin Kumar, General Manager, HR Department in Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant on July 18, 2012. The amount raised through workers’ voluntary contribution was handed over to the families of these 13 workers on August 23 at the workers’ union office in the factory campus.

A study on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu’s manufacturing sector

LISSTAR, Loyola College in association with Indian Social Institute, Bangalore released a study report on migrant workers employed in the manufacturing sector in Tamil Nadu’s three northeastern districts. The study, that surveys about 750 workers in the industrial region of Chennai and its agglomeration, identified that the workers had little knowledge of labour laws, were underpaid and suffered from abysmal working and living conditions. It recommended coordinated action between the state labour departments, unions and NGOs to protect the rights of migrant workers.

International news

The perils of China’s construction industry

The China Labour Bulletin reports that the Chinese Ministry for Emergency Management has issued warnings to the construction sector regarding the rising accident and fatality rates of workers. It is reported that there were 1,732 accidents and 1,752 deaths in the construction industry during the first half of the year, an increase of 7.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. The study by MEM identified structural collapse as the primary reason for most of the fatalities, followed by workers or objects falling from heights. These accidents could be easily prevented if there were proper monitoring and safety protocols. The ministry has blamed the system of subcontracting which is rampant in the sector as the cause for the rising number of accidents, as the sub-contractors fail to implement safety standards adequately.

US prisoners on strike demanding end to ‘modern slavery’

The prison strike in the US that we had discussed previously in this column, kicked off this week. It’s a nationwide strike across prisons in the US. Prisoners are demanding an end to forced labour for very low wages, at times as low as four cents an hour. Calling this a modern form of slavery, the prisoners are planning to go on hunger strike and other forms of passive resistance. It has been observed that the US prison industry could be a billion-dollar business, with many private players invested in using the labour of prisoners for profit. Given the far higher rates of incarceration among the African American community, mainly on drug abuse or petty crimes, the metaphor of ‘modern slavery’ rings truer. After many years of preparation and political action, the activists and prisoners have been able to stage this strike. The consequences of their action could be grave, including solitary confinement.

You can read more about the history of prison protests and the evolution of this current moment in an article in Daily Intelligencer.

Weekend reading

Why do we lack the data on jobs?

The issue of jobs in the economy, the creation or the lack of it, has become a major bone of contention between political parties, economists and statisticians. While there is a major issue of the quality of jobs in the era of ‘ease of business’ governance, the fight has descended to the numbers game. The one thing that everyone agrees is that we have very poor information on whether or not jobs are being created across the economy. But did we never know about the employment health of the economy? Or is it one more casualty in the reform haste of our government. Here is an article in The Wire that discusses the Employment Unemployment Survey carried out by NSSO till it was scrapped by the NDA government. The article discusses the process used by NSSO to estimate the jobs data, the utility, limits and criticisms of the data as well as the statistical limbo we find ourselves in the absence of this data since 2012.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.