The Hindu : Attack on workers' rights: Left parties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 24, 2002

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Attack on workers' rights: Left parties
By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 23. The Left parties today strongly condemned the Centre's decision to amend the Industrial Disputes Act and Labour Laws permitting lay-off, retrenchment and closure of industrial units and saw it as an attack on workers' rights.

Similarly, almost all the central trade unions denounced the decision and resolved to resist the ``anti-worker, anti-people'' laws through countrywide agitations. In a joint statement, the AITUC, CITU, HMS, INTUC, UTUC, AICCTU, TUCC and the UTUC-LS asked the workers to observe March 14, as ``national protest day''.

The CPI(M) politburo said that if the proposal got Parliament approval, it would grant a ``blanket right of hire and fire'' to industrial establishments employing 85 per cent of the organised workers in the country.

The party said that despite opposition by the entire trade union movement, including those belonging to the ruling parties, the non-chalant attitude taken by the NDA Government to ``please the World Bank bosses'' would only invite a powerful confrontation with the working class.

The CPI central secretariat described the move as a ``draconian attack on the rights of the workers'' and charged the Government with having bowed to the pressures of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the industry captains. ``It is still more reprehensible that the Government is planning to allow outsourcing and engaging workers on contract'' by amending the Contract Labour Act. The rights of the workers for ``security of service'' was under attack by introducing ``flexible'' labour laws so that the ``sharks are totally unrestrained and can increase their profits''.

The trade unions observed that the Indian corporate lobby lost little time in welcoming the Cabinet decision and dubbed as ``totally baseless'' its claim that the new laws would generate more investment and employment.

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