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Minimum wage hiked in Delhi: Traders’ body demands roll back, unions welcome move but say its insufficient
Following the Supreme Court’s order on October 14 in favour of the Delhi government’s notification on revised minimum wages, workers in the capital will be entitled to one of the highest minimum wages in the country. “The enhanced minimum wages for unskilled workers have been fixed at Rs 14,842 per month, for semi-skilled workers at Rs 16,341 per month and for skilled workers at Rs 17,991 per month,” PTI reported.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that around 55 lakh contractual workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) will benefit from the increased wages and that it will reduce poverty and help in dealing with the current economic slowdown.
Also read: The Life of Labour: TSRTC Workers Intensify Strike, Cabinet Approves Merger of BSNL, MTNL
However, traders’ organisations are annoyed with this decision. In a letter to CM Kejriwal, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said that increasing minimum wages has put a “high financial pressure” on traders and employers in Delhi.
Trade unions have welcomed the decision but are not pleased with the delay. “The tactics of employers to delay notification of minimum wages has already caused much loss to workers. Many workers including those of Delhi Transport Corporation had to resort to strike as well,” Abhishek, general secretary of All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) Delhi told The Wire. Read more about it here.
RSS-linked trade union rejects draft labour code on social security
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), trade union wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has “rejected” the latest fourth draft on Social Security Code, 2019 calling it “totally disappointing” for the workers of the country. The labour ministry had released the draft on September 17 and invited comments from the public by October 25.
Since the publishing of the column, the labour ministry has taken down the draft labour code. The Wire is therefore producing the draft code in full below:
The Code on Social Security, 2019 by The Wire on Scribd
While submitting its detailed comments to the ministry, the BMS has called it “a weak cut and paste” of eight existing laws on social security. “This is contrary to the objectives of Codification. Unlike the Wage Code, it is not universal, i.e. it did not aim the last worker to be benefitted by all the benefits. It creates a class division of privileged ’employees’, ‘workers’ and unfortunate ‘wage workers’ with different sets of benefits,” a press release from the BMS said.
BMS demanded that the eligibility for gratuity be reduced from five years to one year as about 80% of workers employed in organised sector units are contract labour. On the proposal of opting out of Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) and shifting from Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) to National Pension System (NPS), it says that no health insurance scheme for workers in comparable to ESI and the EPS is more beneficial to the workers than NPS.
The statement alleges that flaws in the existing social security laws that were raised by trade unions have also not been taken care of in the draft.
TSRTC strike enters day 27, high court intervenes to allow union to hold public meeting
The indefinite strike by employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corp (TSRTC) entered its 27th day on Thursday, making it the longest strike by transport workers in the region since 2001 when employees of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation had gone on strike for 24 days.
After the much anticipated court hearing on Tuesday, the Telangana high court directed the state government to allow TSRTC unions to hold a public meeting at the Saroornagar stadium. “The police had earlier denied permission for the meeting to union leaders, who have formed a joint action committee (JAC),” Livemint reported.
Also read: The Life of Labour: 24 Dead in Punjab Cracker Factory Blast, Zomato Lays Off 540 Employees
“We founded TMU with KCR eight years ago. Without the TSRTC, there would have been no Telangana, and he would have not become chief minister. The people who stood in the frontline during the protests was us. He promised us something, and forgot it. He is trying to destroy the TSRTC, that is why we are fighting today. This issue is not about us and the state government, it is an issue between the public and the government,” Telangana Mazdoor Union (TMU) working president Thomas Reddy told Livemint. TMU is leading the strike.
As a mark of protest, TSRTC employees rubbed their noses on the ground saying they made a mistake in voting for Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s government. There have been reports of at least four deaths of protesting employees during the strike. The protests started when around 48,000 TSRTC workers went on an indefinite strike with a list of 26 demands, the major one being merger of the corporation with the state government. The KCR government has refused to negotiate with the workers and dismissed all of them for failing to report to work. Here’s a detailed explainer by the News Minute on the demands of the workers.
Nearly 16,000 government doctors in Tamil Nadu on indefinite strike
Nearly 16,000 government doctors in Tamil Nadu, organised under the banner of Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA), have been on an indefinite strike since October 25. The doctors had launched a state-wide token strike on August 27, but deferred it after the state government’s assurance and setting up of a committee to look into their demands. The government had requested six weeks’ time but hasn’t yet responded.
“The doctors have listed four key demands from the government – periodic salary raise and promotions from the state health department; rectification of all inconsistencies in GO 4(D)2 (the government order implementing the staffing pattern to the hospitals so as to strengthen the health care delivery systems. The posts are sanctioned as per the Medical Council of India guidelines) and hiring people according to patient strength; 50% state-wise reservation for PG speciality and super speciality courses; and fourth, transparent counselling while appointing those who have completed their PGs,” the News Minute reported.
Also read: The Life of Labour: Migrant Workers in Kashmir Leave, 5 Die in Ghaziabad Sewer
Health minister C. Vijayabaskar had warned the doctors to return to service on Thursday or face ‘break in service’ following which their posts would be declared vacant, but the doctors continued their strike as it entered its seventh day.
“At least 10 of our district-level leaders have received transfer orders from the government. Charges have also been framed on us. The government is trying to dilute the momentum, but many doctors are taking part in the strike defying the government’s threat,” A. Ramalingam, convenor of FOGDA, told The Hindu.
International news
Chicago teachers’ strike enters day 11
A strike by teachers in Chicago for better pay as well as “teacher demands for contract language to reduce class size and increase staffing levels for support professionals, including nurses and social workers,” entered it 11th day on Thursday, news agency Reuters reported. The 25,000-member Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has accepted a tentative deal but is pushing for a final demand of extension of the school calendar to make up for instructional days and pay lost during the walkout.
Also read: The Life of Labour: MTNL Workers Unpaid for 2 Months, 2 Lakh Auto Sector Jobs Cut
According to Alan Maass, editor of Socialist Worker, the strike is significant as it presents a labour vision of “bargaining for the common good”. Barbara Ransby, a historian, professor, and activist in Chicago, credits the CTU for helping build “a kind of social justice unionism”.
Most of the students enrolled in Chicago’s public schools are African-Americans and Hispanics, and this movement is also for racial justice, Maass says. In his article published in Jacobin magazine called “Chicago Teachers Strike for the Common Good,” he examines the nature of the movement.
Extra reading
Don’t be fooled – the EU is no defender of workers’ rights
The ‘risk to democracy’ in Chile isn’t from protesters. It’s from Piñera and the 1%
Yale study shows class bias creeps into the hiring process in just a matter of seconds
Crushing job: Study points out risks for migrant workers at stone quarries
B’luru migrant Bengali labourers convert garbage to ‘gold’, get paid nothing
‘Will Suffer Losses But Won’t Open Shops’: Street Vendors’ Unique Protest in J&K
Subaltern Historiography, the Working Class, and Social Theory for the Global South
