7 Reasons Why The Industrial Relations Code 2020 Should Concern All of Us
By Ritabrata, AIITEU West Bengal
The BJP led central government has repealed 29 labour laws and has brought into effect 4 controversial Labour Codes. Each of these codes, instead of protecting workers rights, are being used to protect management interests and has unleashed exploitation of the workers in the name of ‘Ease of Business’.
By providing the right to hire and fire people indiscriminately as and whenever the management deem necessary and to make contractual jobs the norm, the new Industrial Relations (IR) Code has replaced/ abolished three basic labour laws:
1. Industrial Disputes (ID) Act 1947
2. Trade Union Act 1926
3. Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946
In this article we explore how these laws directly affect all of us as workers and why this should concern all of us :
1. You can lose your job without warning
As per the Industrial Dispute Act of 1947, establishments having more than 100 workers needed approval of the government/ labour department for layoffs, retrenchment or closure. This number has now been raised to 300 workers in the Industrial Relations (IR) Code 2020.
In today’s context, because of technological development, there is a huge increase in the productivity of the workers which enables companies to make super profits by employing less workers. In this scenario, the employment threshold should have been reduced to 50 or even less. More than 74% of the current workforce in India doesn’t fall under this threshold and can be victims of a capricious “Hire & Fire’’ policy.
The new IR Code has fundamentally changed the character of employment relations by introducing temporary and fragile work relationships through ‘Fixed Term Employment’. Once this code is implemented, industrial workers will be victims of unregulated ‘hire and fire’ onslaught. Effectively, the new labour code is a weapon in the hands of the employers, who can use their own free will to decide the fate of the employees. While the worker takes on a job with all the trappings of a permanent employment, the employer can choose to simply offer the worker a fixed term contract with no benefits in sight for the worker in question.
2. You can be stripped of employee benefits
As per the updated definition of a worker in the new Industrial Relations code, workers getting 18000/- or more in monthly wages will not be considered as workers. Such positions will be regarded as a ‘Supervisory Role’ and might be pushed out of employee coverage packages and benefits.
Cunningly, the phrase ‘Supervisory Role’ has not been explained and has been left open for interpretation. Now, any management can tag anyone under this specious supervisory category and snatch away the rights from that person. This will impact the IT/ITES sector at large and most of the work force in this sector will be pushed out of labour law coverage.
3. You can be terminated illegally
The Industrial Disputes (ID) Act 1947, which shields the worker from illegal termination, will no longer be in effect if the people don’t qualify as ‘employees’. In the times to come, it will not be possible for the people to fight legal battles when they will be harassed or wrongly terminated by the organisation.
The workers associated with the Gig economy are already facing similar lack of protections in their industry. Companies like Uber, Zomato, Urban Company etc get away with egregious exploitation by not legally recognising them as ‘employees’ and introducing ornamental terms like ‘partners’ or ‘delivery executives’ to deprive them from availing employee benefits.
4. It will be harder to unionise
As per the Trade Union Act of 1926, the registrar was bound to give registration certification to a Union if all the necessary documents were produced. But the new IR code explicitly does not mention the requirements to register a trade union. Therefore, in the current scenario it is virtually impossible to maintain and sustain the registration of trade unions. The right of the workers to unite has been abolished indirectly.
5. You will have fewer avenues for legal recourse
As per ID Act, previously, employees could raise disputes against an employer within 3 years from the date of incident. This time period, as per new IR code, has been reduced to 2 years. The IR Code has additionally abolished labour courts which were specifically designed to handle labour related cases and make the proceedings faster. It has changed the composition of Industrial Tribunals to enable entry of the administration into the quasi-judicial system, which is nothing but indirect interference of the government in the legal process. This will adversely impact the workers including IT/ITES employees, who previously could have moved to labour courts against any illegal actions (such as forced resignations, contracts breach, unlawful firing, etc) taken by their employers.
6. Your work from home arrangement will change dramatically
There is another law which mentions that those who don’t work from the office premises will not be considered as an employee. Since the Covid pandemic, not only the employees of IT/ITES sector, but also, BPO and Call centre employees were requested to work from home and the companies are planning to move towards remote working to reduce their overhead cost by allowing a certain section of the employees to permanently work from home.
7. It will be harder to collectively bargain for pro-worker policies
The IR Code virtually bans the right of collective bargaining power of the employees including workers’ right to strike and in turn imposes atrocious fines or imprisonment on the workers. As per the ID Act of 1947, if a strike is being called in any of the Public Utility Services, a 14 days prior notice was mandatory. But the new IR Codes has made the 14 day notice mandatory for all sectors.
The new laws have made any strike unlawful during the reconciliation process or till 7 days after the process is over. The law has made sure that there is enough room for the labor commission to extend the bargaining and discussion process in order to avoid any strikes. Again any strike has been deemed unlawful and illegal if the dispute is in Tribunal or under court proceedings. Apart from these developments, the organizers and the workers participating in the strike will be penalized with atrocious fines or imprisonment on workers. At the same time, the IR Code makes declaration of lock out easier for employers in all industries. Notice of lockout will no longer be necessary where the workers are already on strike; only intimation about the lockdown needs to be sent to the authority concerned. This seems the government legalizing the slavery in the name of “Ease of Doing Business”
We can safely conclude that the claims made by this BJP led government that more facilities will be provided to the workers is a downright false and a blatant lie. The new Labour Codes have been brought into effect only and only to promote profit maximisation for capitalists at the cost of workers and employees fundamental rights and dignity. These laws will ensure that the workers are exploited exponentially and pushed towards an uncertain, precarious and hopeless future.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Independent sectoral All India Federations and Associations has called for a two-day nationwide General Strike on 28 & 29 March 2022 to march towards the path to defeat this authoritarianism and to end the rampant exploitation by the capitalist class. AIITEU stands in support & solidarity with the General Strikein March. Our key demands :
1. Scrap the four labour codes.
2. Stop privatisation of PSUs.
3. Increase public investment on agriculture, education, health and other necessary public sectors.
