The Fallout of Keying in the Wrong Labour Codes

Context: Violent episode at Wistron’s iPhone assembly factory in Karnataka highlighted gaps present in Indian labour laws and their effective implementation.

Issues with labour laws in India:

• Probable causes of violence at Wistron facility: Non-payment, or only partial payment, of wages, or its delay, and flouting of labour laws, such as non-issuance of the wage contract, and employing women workers in night shift without providing adequate safety.
• Dilution of labour laws like Factory Act 1948 to attract foreign investment seeking alternative locations to China:
  • By the promulgation of ordinance by many states during COVID-19, including Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Example: International Labour Organization (ILO) criticised Uttar Pradesh government’s proposal to suspend the labour laws for the next three years.
  • Dilutes legal provisions related to the ordinary working day’s length, overtime wages, hours of work, the timing of shifts, safety, and health issues.
  • Against international conventions: of the ILO conventions to which India is a founding signatory.
  • Opposition from National trade Unions against the dilution: including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).
• Overlapping and cumbersome laws: some 47 central laws and 200 State laws, mostly applicable to organised sector workers.
  • The government consolidated 29 central laws into 4 labour codes and introduced bills in Parliament. The Four codes are:

1. 1. 1. Code on occupational safety, health and working conditions.
      2. Code on social security.
      3. Code on wages.
      4. Code on Industrial Relations.

• • Issue: all 4 codes passed without adequate consultation with stakeholders and legislative scrutiny.
• Implementation of exploitative Chines industrial practices: like long working days and flexible use of labour. Example: raising length of the working day from eight hours to 12 hours by amending The Factory Act 1948.
• Low wages, especially of casual labourers: Only rupees 256/per day in Urban India in 2018-19, as per the official Periodic Labour Force Survey. It is well below the official living wage as defined by the Seventh Pay Commission for central government employees.

Learnings from China:

• Provision of dormitory accommodation for workers close to factories and other social security benefits: resulted in slum-free Chinese industrial cities, unlike in India.
• Role of China’s local governments and party officials: In employment generation, providing excellent physical infrastructure and ensure adequate credit to industrial enterprises through the national development banks, thus implicitly subsidising production costs.

Conclusion: The government’s efforts to boost domestic production (‘Make in India’), and enhance national self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat) should be backed by sound labour laws ensuring social security benefits and a decent life for the labourers.