CENTRAL TRADE UNIONS DEMAND URGENT INTERVENTION BY THE LABOUR MINISTER
INTUC AITUC HMS CITU AIUTUC
TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF UTUC
Date: 1.04.2020
To
Shri Santosh Gangwar
The Minister for Labour and Employment,
Govt. of India
Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg
New Delhi - 110001
Sir,
We the Central Trade Unions would like to draw your attention to the
complaints/information/grievances being received by us from the workers,
employees and our unions from all over India. On our part we are
doing whatever possible at our level in contacting the concerned
officials of various government/state enterprises/institutions/
industries/sectors and the state & local administration for the
redressal. Our unions and activists are also involved in the relief work
despite constraints of movement.
However we are bringing to your notice for seeking your immediate intervention at your level.
At the outset we would like to point out that we had raised several
issues in our joint letter addressed to the Prime Minister on 26th March
2020 (letter attached). We had demanded immediate announcement of
strong statutory enforceable measures to arrest and put a ban on the
ongoing spree of retrenchments, wage cut, forced unpaid leave etc being
perpetrated by the employers on the workers, particularly
contract/casual/temporary/fixed term workers in various establishments,
particularly in private sector throughout the country to be enforced
both by central and state governments. We are still regularly getting
information of forced unpaid leave etc. including from NCR region.
Appeal/Advisory by the Govt, both the Labour Ministry and Home Ministry
is not at all working at ground level to prevent loss of employment and
earnings and also eviction from local residence in the process of lock
down. We had detailed the demands about the immediate packages for
various sectors of workers.
The experience of the past seven days unfortunately bears out our apprehensions. We give some instances:
Employees manning essential services run in the public/government sector
being stopped and detained by the police, in spite of their holding
valid Identity Cards issued by the concerned authorities, the
contract/outsourced workers mostly not being provided any protective
gear. Even the ASHA and Anganwadi workers who are working in the
frontline in combating Corona are being tortured and manhandled in
various states by Police and local miscreants with impunity.
A vast number of workers, not even registered in any of the welfare
boards and for whose benefit the Government claims to be putting in
place the Social Security Code, suddenly find themselves without work,
without any support system to feed them and cut off far away from their
native places. There are reports pouring in from all the States that
workers’ services are being dispensed with in total disregard of the
“Advisory” by the Secretary Ministry of Labour and also by Home
Secretary.
The government has not mobilized any machinery to transport grain
supplies in their Godowns to various rationing outlets in States.
Restriction on inter-state transport movement made the situation
difficult further. Hoarding is rampant and the prices of essential
commodities are shooting up which is causing further hardship to the
working people.
We urge you to impress upon the concerned departments to deal with those
seeking opportunity in this hour of crisis or being callous to the
plight of the masses, by enforcing the message of government advisories,
to ensure that everyone has the means to feed himself/herself.
The migrant workers are in deep distress with no work, no money and
removal from their work places and in many cases eviction from the
rented accommodations, and have nothing to depend upon for stay and
food and are desperately attempting to reach back to their home facing
police highhandedness. Due to sudden lock down, the rail and road
transport shutdown, they are walking on highways hundreds of miles,
some of them along with their families including small children. Many of
them are stopped/detained, insulted and humiliated by police
particularly on the inter-state borders and are now staying under the
sky midway. And above this, there are reports of deaths due to accidents
and hardships.
We urge you that the government must act urgently to rescue them with
necessary transport facilities and they should be provided with food,
shelter water and required health services. This is in line with the
directions/advisories issued by the Home Secretary to all state govts.
But Central Govt also must take the responsibilities to facilitate
implementation of their own advisories/directions.
Please also ensure that all the unorganized workforce, registered and un
registered, the daily/casual/contract/outsourced and piece rated home
based workers, agriculture workers, MGNREGA and scheme workers
including ASHA, Mid day meal, Anganwadi and others in such a category,
those who are truck drivers and helpers, coolies/porters/loaders
unloaders, construction & beedi workers, the domestic workers, waste
pickers, self employed as hawkers-vendors, rickshaw pullers,
e-rickshaw/auto/taxi drivers etc. are covered for the cash and ration
relief at the earliest. Public Distribution System be used effectively
and universally for all these needy people. Opening of procurement
centers for the farm produce near to villages and towns could also help
the accessibility to the producers and buyers. A comprehensive
income-support scheme for all the unorganized/informal sector workers is
the urgent need of the hour and we urge the Govt to urgently act upon
the same to save overwhelming majority of the country’s workforce from
biggest human disaster. Bank branches in some cases are 40 – 50
kilometer from the place of workers/their families, hence the other
methods of disbursal of cash transfer should also be devised.
The ESIC hospitals and dispensaries be furnished with all necessary
protective equipments for the safety of medical, paramedical, safai
karamcharis and other staff while giving their services. The necessary
inputs of medical facilities be taken care off. They should also be
considered for insurance cover.
In view of the ever-growing scale and spread of the problems of these
workers particularly migrant workers, and the trade unions being in the
thick of things we request you to ask the counterparts in ministry of
labour in respective states to communicate and coordinate with all the
trade unions in their states including formation of trade union
committees and issuing valid passes to office bearers of trade unions
for addressing the above mentioned issues including their participation
in relief work.
INTUC AITUC HMS CITU AIUTUC
TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF UTUC