People's Democracy

FORTY FIFTH SESSION OF ILC

Recognise Scheme Workers as ‘Workers’, not ‘Volunteers’

K Hemalata

THE 45th session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), the annual tripartite meeting of the workers, employers and governments was held on May 17-18, 2013 in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The agenda of this session included four topics: 

·                    Service conditions, wages and social security for various categories of workers employed in different central government and state government schemes (Anganwadi, mid day meal, ASHA, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and other schemes under various ministries of central government)

·                    Social security with special reference to assured pension with indexation for all workers including self employed

·                    Labour law for micro and small enterprises and

·                    Measures to improve employment and employability.

The union minister for labour and employment Mallikarjuna Kharge chaired the session which was inaugurated by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh. Tapan Sen, general secretary, Hemalata, Prasanna Kumar and A R Sindhu, all national secretaries represented CITU in the plenary session and in the groups that discussed each topic in detail.

The prime minister reiterated that as prime minister he participated in all the sessions of the ILC, except one during his tenure. But, this time too, as usual, he did not find it necessary to spend at least a few minutes listening to the workers’ representatives in the ILC. However, he had to refer to the two days’ strike and the demands raised by it while inaugurating the session. It may be recalled that he did not utter a single word in his inaugural address to the 44th session of ILC about the countrywide general strike, on the same demands, just a fortnight later on 28th February 2012.

The prime minister said that the “recent two day strike by trade unions focussed on a number of issues relating to the welfare not only of the working classes but also the people at large”. He classified the demands into three sets and said that “demands for concrete measures for containing inflation, for generation of employment opportunities, for strict implementation of labour laws, are unexceptionable” and “there can be no disagreement” on these. Some other demands, like “universal social security cover for workers in both the organised and unorganised sectors, creation of a National Social Security Fund, fixing a National Floor Level Minimum Wage and provision of a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month under the Employees’ Pension Scheme”, he said, are under an “advanced stage of consideration” by the government. He sought to mislead the house, as the demand of the trade unions was a national minimum wage, not national ‘Floor level’ minimum wage. And the ‘third set’ of demands according to him relate to issues on which “further dialogue with trade union leaders” was necessary and the government has set up a Group of Ministers under the finance minister to go into the whole gamut of demands raised by the trade unions.

It took nearly four years of continuous struggles by the entire trade union movement including jail bharo, marches to the parliament and three country wide general strikes for the prime minister to realise that these demands raised by the trade unions “reflect the concern that our growth and progress should be inclusive and should particularly benefit the under privileged sections of our society”. This probably reflects the neo-liberal mindset that chooses to totally ignore and dismiss the trade unions as ‘anti development’. Despite the ‘pride’ expressed by Manmohan Singh in attending all the Indian Labour Conferences since he became prime minister, the importance that the government gives to the recommendations of the Indian Labour Conference is seen in the fact that while the 44th ILC has recommended that “the government should take the necessary steps to fix minimum wages as per the norms/ criteria recommended by the 15th ILC and the directions of the Supreme Court in the Raptakos & Brett case”, what his cabinet approved is “amendment to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to provide only for a statutory National Floor Level Minimum Wage”.

MUM ON

SCHEME WORKERS

The NSSO survey shows that the labour force participation of women has alarmingly come down between 2004–05 and 2009–10, with more than two crore women disappearing from the labour force. But strangely the prime minister expressed his happiness that “women employment in the organised sector has registered a growth of about 19 per cent” between 2005 and 2011. Did he have the lakhs of ‘scheme workers’, the anganwadi employees, the ASHAs, the mid day meal workers, etc – the workers not even recognised as workers and paid a measly ‘honorarium’ or ‘incentive’ – working in his government’s various departments in mind?

Different segments of ‘scheme workers’ have been conducting many militant and powerful struggles through their own organisations separately and jointly for a long time. The CITU took up the issues of all the ‘scheme workers’ and in November 2012 mobilised the workers employed in several central government schemes and conducted a massive two days ‘mahapadav’ near the parliament after a countrywide campaign for more than two months. As a result of these campaigns and struggles and the insistence of CITU and several other central trade unions to include their conditions for discussion in the ILC, this was included as the first agenda of the ILC. But the prime minister was totally silent on their issues. This, despite his earlier assertion that they were the pillars of human development, acknowledgment that their conditions need to be improved and specific assurance in the case of the anganwadi employees that they would be provided some ‘parting gift’ when they were being retired after decades of service. Naturally, this has highly disappointed all the trade union representatives and the around one crore ‘scheme workers’ who were eagerly waiting for some positive response from the prime minister in the ILC.

Intervening in the discussions in the plenary session, Tapan Sen gave expression to their feelings when he said that the prime minister should at least have reflected upon the ‘most crucial of the agendas of the 45th session of the ILC – the issue of more than one crore workers like the anganwadi employees, mid day meal workers, ASHAs, para teachers etc employed in various central government schemes who are playing most crucial role in their implementation. They are providing the basic services essential for human development, the development of women and children in our country, like heath care, maternal care, education etc. These workers are not even recognised as workers and are thus being denied minimum wage and minimum social security benefits and are forced to retire empty handed after 30 or more years of service. Is it or should it be permissible in any civilised society? The government must have to act to end such gross inhuman impropriety and this Indian Labour Conference must dedicate itself for the same.

While welcoming the statement of the prime minister that there can be no disagreement on the demands like containing inflation and strict implementation of the labour laws, which were unexceptionable, Tapan Sen ridiculed his caveat that “there can however be differences on the best way of fulfilling these demands”. He placed several issues before the ILC in response to the prime minister’s readiness “to constructively engage with the trade unions”.

Tapan Sen said that strict implementation of labour laws required a paradigm shift in the style of governance. He observed that the entire labour law administration and labour relations management has become a kind of public private partnership (PPP) between the government machinery and corporate employers to promote violation and evasion of labour laws on almost every aspect – minimum wage, working hours, social security, workplace safety, contract work and related issues all over the country. There is perpetual exploitation of the workers; labour rights are being suppressed, often with inhuman brutality.

He said that this PPP project of administration employers combine was operating in keeping more than two hundred workers and trade union activists behind bars for around three months in Noida in Uttar Pradesh for taking part in the strike on February 20, 2013. They are denied bail even today. It is the same PPP model of collaboration between the Haryana government and the Suzuki Corporation that engineered the most heinous crime of putting in jail 185 workers of Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, who have been languishing in jail for more than a year now and terminating the services of 500 regular workers and 1200 contract workers in a most unlawful manner, without even conducting an enquiry. There are many such examples. This PPP of the government and employers is only meant to suppress the workers, trample all labour laws under foot under State sponsorship and facilitate the illegitimate gains and maximisation of profit for the employers.

This PPP model, Tapan Sen said, was not confined to the area of labour management alone. It is all pervasive and rampant in every aspect of governance benefiting the handful of private players at the cost of the people. This philosophy in the arena of tax collection is preventing tax collection from the big corporations whose direct tax arrears have mounted to Rs 4,82,000 crore in 2012, an increase of 94 per cent in two years.

Such generous permission to the corporates to loot the workers as well as the public exchequer is being justified in the name of incentives for investment. But, Tapan Sen pointed out, despite all such encouragement to loot the workers and the exchequer, the share of the private corporates in total domestic investment has been continuously declining, particularly since 2009, reaching a mere 29.8 per cent in 2012. Thus the very ostentatious purpose of active promotion of the PPP model stands defeated. The urgent need of the hour is a total change in the notorious PPP philosophy that promotes violation of labour laws, repression and suppression of the rights of the workers who create GDP for the country, generate revenue for the exchequer and contribute to the profits of the employers. If the government is serious in putting into practice the statement of the prime minister on implementation of labour laws it must immediately stop this PPP model in governance. Labour laws should be enforced instead of talking of the so-called self compliance. Otherwise all the tall talk of social partnership and social dialogue remain a mere hoax.

Tapan Sen also warned the government on the illegitimate drainage of public funds to the so-called private vocational training providers under the PPP model of skill development through various schemes. Fake claims of reimbursement of training expenditure were being made which is now being enquired into by the CBI. Training and skill development initiatives should not be allowed to get converted into a profitable business for private interests through PPP route, he insisted.

 
The agenda items were discussed in separate committees and their recommendations were placed in the plenary that adopted them.

There was general consensus in the conference committee on the conditions of the ‘scheme workers’ that their conditions must be improved. The major recommendations of the committee are – i) the scheme workers should be first recognised as ‘workers’ and not called ‘volunteers’ or honorary workers; ii) they should be paid minimum wages; iii) they should get all the social security benefits like pension, gratuity, maternity benefits etc; iv) to begin with social security schemes like Aam Admi Bima Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana should be extended to these workers; v) one time gratuity/ lump-sum payment should be made to anganwadi employees who have already retired or will be retiring in the near future; vi) they should have the right to organise and collective bargaining, vii) the respective departments should formulate ‘Employment Standing Orders’ for these workers to regulate their employment and service conditions; viii) the workers who are employed on contract basis should be retained for all such subsequent activities and ix) the service conditions of the teachers and staff of the NCLP schools should be ameliorated along with appropriate infrastructural and amenities.

However, even as all the trade union representatives, the employers’ representatives and the representatives of all the state governments fully supported these recommendations, the representatives of the ministry of women and child development and the ministry of education and literacy in charge of mid day meal programme opposed the recognition of the ‘scheme workers’ as workers, payment of minimum wages and pension and a lump-sum amount to those who were being ‘disengaged’. This attitude of the concerned ministries which employed lakhs of workers, most of them women, like the anganwadi employees and the mid day meal workers was strongly criticised by the trade union representatives in the plenary, when it was placed there.

The conference committee on ‘Social security with special reference to assured pension’ made the following recommendations – i) universal social security coverage should be provided for the entire working population of the country; appropriate steps should be taken to remove the prevalent hurdles, such as restricting them to BPL categories, to achieve this objective; ii) the entire working population of the country should have access to assured pension at the end of their working lives; iii) the EPS 1995 should, as the first step provide minimum assured pension of Rs 1000 per month; iv) the pensionary benefits available to the beneficiaries should be responsive to price rise; v) the New Pension Scheme (NPS) should be suitably modified to provide for assured pension to the members; vi) the current government spending on social security schemes as a percentage of GDP should be increased. In addition, the committee reiterated the recommendations of the 44th session of ILC and asked that they should be implemented at the earliest. It also requested the government to examine enacting legislation providing for the ‘Right to work and pension’ in line with the Right to Information and the Right to Education Acts.

There were diverse opinions in the committee on the micro and small enterprises. While the employers’ associations expressed difficulties in compliance of the multiple labour laws in the micro and small enterprises and wanted a comprehensive law for these enterprises, the trade union representatives asserted that any measures taken for promoting micro and small enterprises should ensure that the interests of the workers employed in these establishments should not be compromised and the basic requirements like minimum wages, social security and welfare benefits and working and service conditions of the workers are adequately addressed. The committee however recommended that i) any suggestion or proposals made for rationalisation or simplification of procedures in compliance of labour laws should be examined by the ministry of labour and employment for appropriate action; ii) a tripartite committee having representatives of all stakeholders including employers’ associations, trade unions and central and state government representatives should be constituted for examining all aspects of labour laws affecting the working of the micro and small enterprises and submit its recommendations on any further actions.

The committee on ‘Measures to improve employment and employability’ reiterated the recommendations of the 44th session of ILC like early finalisation of the National Employment policy, more investments in labour intensive industries, increasing access to skill development to the SC, ST, OBC, minorities and the differently abled persons with special focus on women. In addition it made several recommendations that include i) specific measures to be decided and quantified for enhancement of employment opportunities, ii) continued investment in infrastructure development, iii) promoting manufacturing and service sector units, iv) establishment of well structured holistic labour market information system, vi) increase outreach of skill development to rural, hilly inaccessible areas, vii) increase the number of ITIs and skill development centres, viii) lift the ban on recruitment and fill up all the existing vacancies, ix) industry to enhance seats for apprenticeship training; x) bring the micro, small and medium enterprises under the purview of Apprentices Act and xi) take up public awareness campaign on skill development, particularly in the rural areas.

CITU’S

PROPOSALS

The CITU has circulated its concrete position and proposals on all the agenda items under discussion, which are as follows:

On the conditions of the scheme workers it proposals included

Ø                 Recognise the anganwadi workers and helpers, the mid day meal workers, ASHAs, para teachers, and all such workers/ employees employed in the various schemes/ programmes of the government of India as workers/ employees, of the concerned department

Ø                 Pay minimum wages to all these workers/ employees and link them with consumer price index

Ø                 Constitute welfare fund at the central level to provide social security benefits including maternity benefits, provident fund, medical benefits, gratuity, pension etc to all these workers/ employees

Ø                 Recognise the right to organise and collective bargaining of all these workers

ON SOCIAL SECURITY &

ASSURED PENSION

CITU strongly asserted that the New Pension Scheme (NPS) being a defined contribution scheme can never ensure an ‘assured pension with indexation provision’ for the self employed persons, as mentioned in the agenda note. It proposed

Ø                 Assured pension as defined benefit to all workers; the government and the employers must shoulder the responsibility to ensure this basic social security for all workers/ employees

Ø                 Restore all the unilateral curtailments of various benefits under EPS 1995; the government and the employers should shoulder the responsibility of sharing the additional burden of 0.63 per cent required for ensuring minimum monthly pension of Rs 1000 per month

Ø                 Positive consideration of the unanimous recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour that government should contribute at least half the rate of employers’ contribution to pension fund (the Standing Committee in this context, considered the diversion of 8.33 per cent from the provident fund to pension as employers’ contribution)

Ø                 Social security savings/ accumulation should be paid higher rate of interest compared to other commercial deposits as it is a long term recurring deposit from the workers and employers

Ø                 Indexation of pension should be seriously considered

ON LABOUR LAW FOR

MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES

CITU questioned the theory of aligning labour laws with the needs of the economy. The note asked if this meant justification of

Ø                 non payment of the statutory minimum wages

Ø                 forcing the workers to work 12 hours a day

Ø                 denying them social security benefits under PF, ESI etc

Ø                 deploying workers on contract basis continuously in jobs of permanent and perennial nature

Ø                 not maintaining statutorily required employment registers

Ø                 not submitting returns required under law

Ø                 not giving appointment letters to the workers

Ø                 denial of the right to organise and collective bargaining

If so, it can never agree to such alignment. It also strongly asserted that there is no need for a separate labour law for the micro, small and medium enterprises sector at this stage and that the requirements of this sector can be adequately addressed by the existing labour laws and procedures.

ON MEASURES TO IMPROVE

EMPLOYMENT & EMPLOYABILITY

Ø                 The State must take the responsibility of providing training; the aim of skill development should be to increase full scale employment opportunities for youth and workers and not for merely meeting the requirements of the industrialists to earn profits

Ø                 Any idea to make the National Council of Vocational Training (NCTV) autonomous with reduced number of government nominees in the board should be rejected

Ø                 The serious staff shortage for inspection of ITIs/ ITCs at the central and state level should be addressed immediately

As a result of the prolonged struggles of the working class, at least some of its demands have thus found reflection in the agenda items and the recommendations of the 45th session of ILC. The extent to which the recommendations will be implemented by the government, as the experience with so many of the recommendations of all the past ILCs, depends on how strongly and consistently the struggles are continued by the working class by mobilising all the resources at its command.

At the same time, it is also necessary to keep in mind that the implementation of even these limited recommendations requires the reversal of the neo-liberal policy regime. Hence, the need of the hour is to ‘intensify struggles to change policies’, as the 14th conference of CITU has called for.