New labour codes, the threats to informal workers, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• New labour codes of 2019 and 2020 threaten the rights of unorganized sector workers, who constitute over 90% of India’s workforce and contribute 65% of its GDP.
• The codes, concerning industrial relations, wages, social security, and occupational health and safety, were passed without tripartite consultation at the Indian Labour Conference (ILC).
• The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code replaces existing safety rules under laws like the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996, endangering workers in hazardous sectors like construction.
• The Social Security (SS) Code abolishes cesses for worker welfare without replacement and sets up a single welfare board, potentially dissolving 39 sector-specific boards in Tamil Nadu.

Detailed Insights:

• The Union Government claims the codes consolidate labor laws and universalize social security, but unorganized workers are largely excluded except in the Social Security Code.
• The OSHWC Code's shift to web-based inspections violates ILO Convention 81, which India ratified, undermining workplace safety and minimum wage implementation.
• Informal workers face occupational diseases like silicosis, cancer from pesticides, and chronic issues in salt production, but the OSHWC Code lacks concern for these realities, violating ILO Convention 161.
• The SS Code offers vague "welfare schemes" for informal workers without guaranteed funds, raised from employers or the Union government.
• Implementing the centralized e-Shram registration system could allow the central government to take over approximately ₹1 lakh crore in accrued welfare funds.
• Tamil Nadu, with three crore informal workers and two crore registered across welfare boards, is deliberating on issuing rules for the SS Code due to threats to existing state-level protections.
• States like Andhra Pradesh have closed welfare boards in response to the Codes; Tamil Nadu must protect its boards and legislation under the Tamil Nadu Manual Workers Act, 1982, like Kerala, by refusing to implement the codes.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Labour Codes: Consolidated laws governing industrial relations, wages, social security, and worker safety.
• Tripartite Consultation: Discussions involving workers, employers, and government representatives.
• Social Security: Measures providing welfare benefits like pensions, healthcare, and unemployment assistance.
• Cesses: Taxes or levies collected for specific purposes, such as worker welfare funds.