The Hindu Business Line : Labour reforms: AEPC team meets Prakash Karat

TO enlist the support of the Left parties for their plea on early labour reforms, a delegation of garment exporters under the aegis of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has met the CPI(M) General Secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, and appealed for his party's cooperation to introduce a labour restructuring.

The delegation also urged the CPI(M) leader to back up certain immediate changes demanded by the garment sector in the labour laws that would enable it to take advantage of the prevailing market condition favouring India in exports of garments and textiles.

Increase in working hours: It also called upon the CPI(M) to agree for the industry engaging contract labour with the condition that the workers would be given minimum 200 days of employment in a year. It also wanted the number of working hours to be increased to 60 hours in a week.

Even while suggesting that the office-bearership of trade unions be restricted to the working employees, the members wanted that the issue of strike notice by the workers in a unit could be allowed only if the same received approval from two or three of the workers. The delegation felt that in the event of lack of orders for a garment unit, it could be allowed to lay off workers by giving 45 days' wages as compensation for every completed year of service.

The delegation which met the CPI(M) leader on Tuesday included among others, Mr A. Sakthivel, AEPC Chairman, Mr Sudhir Dhingra of Orient Crafts Ltd, Mr Harish Ahuja of Shah Export House and Mr Rajinder Hinduja of Gokuldas Exports Pvt Ltd, according to a press note from the AEPC.

The communication said that while Mr Karat was positive in his response with regard to extending the number of working hours, he felt that as for the contract labour was concerned, a dialogue between the Government and trade unions should be held on this subject and the Council should write to the Prime Minister in this regard.

Writes to PM: Hence, the AEPC has written to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention by saying that the time was ripe for having a flexible labour policy for the garment sector considering the fact that China, the biggest competitor to India in garment exports, would still remain under quota restrictions. But before this advantage could lapse, the industry should get the needed incentive to become stronger in exports by way of a proactive labour policy, the Council said.