Ten of India's biggest trade unions, along with thousands of workers, organized a statewide demonstration against the PM Modi led central government's new labor laws on Wednesday, only one week after they went into effect, according to AP and AFP sources. According to the AP, union leaders warned that the updated regulations jeopardize long-standing protections for millions of workers and condemned the new laws as a "deceptive fraud" of the workforce.
Across the nation, labor and farmer organizations staged protests and marches in protest of what they saw as the government's approval of the revamp in spite of worries about workplace rights, negotiating power, and job security.
The demonstrations were the first significant demonstration of opposition since the labor laws went into effect on November 21. At a time when workers are already struggling with job market instability, union representatives contend that the new structure dilutes crucial protections and gives businesses undue power.
Tapan Sen, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, told the news agency, "Workers' rights are being bulldozed, and the government is justifying the move with a barrage of lies that the codes will benefit laborers." One of the main groups that demanded the strike on Wednesday was the union.
The All India Trade Union Congress's general secretary, Amarjeet Kaur, told AP that the new regulations from the central government are an attempt to silence workers. "It's an attempt to return workers to the colonial era, when they are unable to even speak up or fight for the formation or legalization of a trade union."
Additionally, Gautam Mody of the New Trade Union Initiative told AFP that the law had "blind-sided" them. "The government has taken workers by surprise," he told AFP. "We want justice, equity, and fairness before the law things that the new codes deny."
The reform eliminates a hodgepodge of legislation from the colonial past and unifies 29 distinct labor laws into four comprehensive codes that address social security, wages, industrial relations, and occupational safety.
According to officials, the action increases social security coverage for unorganized, gig, and platform workers, streamlines compliance for employers, and eliminates over a thousand current regulations. In addition, the new regulations require formal appointment letters, specify salary schedules, and let women to work nights as long as sufficient safety precautions are taken.
Furthermore, benefits like maternity leave and accrued service payouts that were previously only available to permanent employees are now available to fixed-term workers. Unions contend that these benefits are overshadowed by clauses that, in their opinion, drastically tip the scales in favor of business.
A section that raises the threshold for requesting government permission for layoffs from 100 to 300 workers is particularly concerning, according to the AFP report. This effectively permits companies with up to 300 employees to reduce personnel without prior consent. Additionally, the laws restrict the ease with which workers can organize unions, lengthen acceptable working shifts, and put harsher conditions on strikes.
