People's Democracy

Unorganised Sector Workers’ Charter Of Demands

1. Immediately enact the comprehensive central legislation for unorganised sector workers, incorporating the unanimous suggestions and recommendations of the central trade union organisations.

2. Amend the Minimum Wages Act laying down, as the criterion for fixing need-based wages minimum wages, the 15th ILC norms, supplemented by the Supreme Court Judgement of 1991 (Raptakos Brett).  Include the (amended) Minimum Wages Act in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

3. Revise the existing notifications by enhancing immediately the minimum wages in all employments in the unorganised sector to above poverty level, to be increased progressively with the objective to reach the need based level within a specified period. Guarantee payment of minimum wages, under all circumstances, in the case of piece-rated workers.

4. Ensure payment of dearness allowance with hundred per cent neutralisation of increases in cost of living.

5. Implement all social security measures, including security of employment and welfare measures, for all workers in the unorganised sector.

6. Ensure issue of appointment letters/identity cards to all workers in the unorganised sector, including the home-based, self-employed, contract, casual, piece-rated, temporary, NMR etc workers.

7. Enforce ‘equal wages for equal work’ concept to all workers, male and female.

8. Address the special needs of women workers like crèche, separate toilets, maternity benefits, transport etc. No night shift for women workers. Sexual harassment at work place must be dealt with severely.

9. Abolish contract system in all sectors and regularise the contract workers; meanwhile, ensure wages and all other benefits on par with the regular workers and continue deployment of all the contract workers, even when contractors are changed.

10. Make the principal employer accountable for payment of minimum wages and settlement of any grievance or dispute in respect of all sections of workers, working under contractors or sub-contractors. 

11. Enforce thoroughly the tender documents in the case of all government contracts, incorporating the number of employees and obligatory payment of minimum wages.

12. Extend housing facilities to all workers in the unorganised sector.

13. To protect the establishments in the small-scale and tiny sectors, reintroduce quantitative restrictions on imports, restore the customs duties to the 1991- level; reintroduce reservation of items of production de-reserved since 1991; and ban penetration by the MNCs and Indian monopoly houses in these sectors and in traditional industries; provide subsidised power and extend other concessions to all units in the unorganised sector.

14. Ensure occupational safety and health, provision of medicare benefits to all workers and payment of compensation to the affected workers in all cases of occupational diseases and accidents.

15. Ensure settlement of all labour disputes within three months, with payment of full wages for the duration of non-employment.