National Federation of Postal Employees

EDITORIAL POSTAL CRUSADER OCTOBER-2014

LABOUR LAWS AMENDMENTS – ONSLAUGHTS ON WORKING CLASS.

            The union Government is going to amend labour laws without prior discussion with Trade Unions. Bilateral forums and tripartite bodies made for maintaining relations by way of discussions between Government,Workers and employers are being dissolved only to implement neo-liberal reforms for the benefit of multinational and national corporates and curtailing workers rights and trade union facilities.

            The Rajasthan Government lead by Vasundhara Raje is being utilized as test laboratory as it has taken first step to amend labour laws i.e. Industrial disputes Act, Factories Act and contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act incorporating anti worker provisions without discussion with Trade Unions. All the amendments were placed in Rajasthan Assembly on 1^st August, 2014 and were got passed on the same day. The industrial dispute act amendment empowers employers to retrench the workers without prior permission of government upto establishment of 300 and it also denies the rights of formation of Trade Union unless they have at least 30 % membership.

            The amended factory act increases the coverage from 20 workers to 40 workers in the factories without power and 10 to 20 with power? This amended Act has come as a protection cover for employer as the court cannot take cognizance on the complaints of violation of laws against the employer without written permission from the State Government. The amendment to contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act keeps the employer out of purview of the Act in the establishment where up to 49 workers are employed. The amendment in apprenticeship act also gives the opportunity to employer to replace a regular worker by apprentices.

            After passing these amendments in Rajasthan Assembly the Central Government Labour Ministry posted in its website the proposals to amend all these acts and introduced the Factories amendment Bill 2014 and the apprenticeship Act (Amendment) Bill 2014 in Lok Sabha and brought back in business the Labour Laws (Exemption from furnishing returns and maintaining of Registers by certain establishment) Amendment Bill 2011 in Rajya Sabha This shows that the Modi Government is also following the path of Vasundhara Raje Government of Rajasthan.

            This trend of Govt. is alarming as it is developing the unilateralism and authoritarian practices . All these so called reforms and amendments in Labour Laws will empower the employers and will keep them out of purview of labour laws and this  paves the way of more exploitation of workers in so many ways.

            So this is the need of the hour that all the workers whether they are in Govt. sector, in public sector or in organized or unorganized sector, require to be educated about all these changes and must be ready to fight all these onslaughts unleashed by the Govt. unitedly and compel the Govt. to reverse back the so-called reform policies which are being made in the favour of capitalist class.

            It is in this background, all the Central Trade Unions including BMS,INTUC,HMS,AITUC,CITU,UTUC etc. has decided to unitedly oppose this anti-labour policies of the NDA Government . The National Convention of Workers held at New Delhi on 15^th September 2014 has decided to organise nationwide campaign against the labour law amendments. The resolution adopted unanimously by all Central Trade Unions and Federations calls upon the entire working class of the country to fight out these policies at any cost. NFPE calls upon the entirety of  Postal and RMS employees including Gramin Dak Sewaks to rally behind the banner of joint plat form of Central Trade Unions and fight unitedly the unsought unleashed by the Narendra Modi Government.