The united trade union movement, save the BJP-backed BMS, has proposed to observe a country-wide general strike on September 2, 2016 “against the anti-people, anti-national and anti-worker policies of the NDA government”. Since 1992, 16 country-wide struggles/strikes have taken place with varying degrees of participation. Several people question not only the utility of the demonstrative work stoppage but also dub it as “political exercises”.

However, the critics do not understand that strikes and agitations have been necessitated by the absence of effective social dialogue and a multi-pronged strategy to dilute labour rights.

Why this strike? It is important to note that though the BMS was able to extract a written assurance from the government, the latter reportedly did not hold consultations with the other trade unions, while also not delivering on recognised labour rights like higher minimum wages and pensions. In fact, the BMS in its recent Bhopal meeting condemned the NDA for its “callous attitude”.

Concerns galore

As September 2 draws near, the government has initiated damage control exercises, and that too by holding consultations with the BMS alone, which has not apparently yielded satisfactory results. This is not social dialogue; it is only political dialogue.

The absence of concerted and continuous social dialogue is a serious shortcoming of the government, which persistently argues that labour law reforms are critical to faster growth. The persistence of same 12-point demands in the 2016 strike is also a reflection of seriousness of the government towards labour issues.

The trade union movement is deeply upset that the government has been adopting piecemeal reforms with a strong pro-business orientation. The government has introduced a model shops and establishments labour law which in the guise of promoting more business has put labour rights at risk. In its textile policy it has introduced fixed-term employment and increased the cap on overtime work by amending the Factories Act. It has irked the trade unions by frequently seeking to tinker with provident fund money, though in vain. Though the government has taken positive measures like extending maternity benefits, the “credit” side does not read well.

Trade unions are also seriously concerned about some broad systemic issues such as speculative trading in commodity markets causing inflation, lack of quality employment generation, allowing of foreign direct investment in critical sectors such as defence, among others.

Reports and studies show employers in poor light — employers defaulting on provident fund, violation of minimum wages, accidents on construction sites (in Pune), union busting, high incidence of contract workers even in core activities in auto industries, and so on, which indicate a poor labour rights environment. This is a terrible goverannce failure.

Finally, trade unions are anticipating critical amendments to empower the already powerful employer class in the cause of enhancing competitiveness of the firm and possible faster economic growth. The latter is meaningless if it is not accompanied by good labour standards. The September 2 strike articulates these arguments in an almost desperate manner, once again asking the government to listen to them.

The writer is a professor at XLRI, Jamshedpur

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