PROJECT REPORT TRADE UNIONS IN DISCORD WITH THE NEO-LIBERAL LABOUR POLICIES OF THE CENTRAL AND THE STATE GOVERNMENTS: AN INQUIRY Submitted to the Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment By Dr. MONEYVEENA VR (Principal Investigator) & Adv. K. YESODHARAN (Co-Investigator) Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment, Thiruvananthapuram 31st March 2016 TRADE UNIONS IN DISCORD WITH THE NEO-LIBERAL LABOUR POLICIES OF THE CENTRAL AND THE STATE GOVERNMENTS: AN INQUIRY Project Report Submitted to the Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment, By Dr. MONEYVEENA VR (Principal Investigator) & Adv. K. YESODHARAN (Co-Investigator) Viswajith Anand S S (Research Associate) Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment, Thiruvananthapuram 31st March 2016 Dr. Moneyveena.V R & Adv. K. Yesodharan Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment Thiruvananthapuram DECLARATION We, Dr. Moneyveena.V.R & Adv.K.Yesodharan do hereby declare that this project entitled TRADE UNIONS IN DISCORD WITH THE NEO-LIBERAL LABOUR POLICIES OF THE CENTRAL AND THE STATE GOVERNMENTS: AN INQUIRY is a bonafide record of research work done by us during the course of our research, and that the project has not previously formed the basis for the award to us of any Degree, Diploma, Associateship, Fellowship of other similar title or recognition. Thiruvananthapuram 31st March 2016 Dr. Moneyveena.V.R & Adv. K.Yesodharan. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Trade Unions have proliferated due to rapid economic development and development in particular. The setting of industrial units involving wide spread use of machinery, changes in working and living environment of workers, concentration of industries in large towns have brought the workers together to maintain and improve their bargaining power and hence their employment conditions. The first organized Trade Union in India named as the Madras Labour Union was formed as early as 1918. Since then, a large number of Unions came up in almost all the industrial centres of the country. The government of India passed the “Trade Unions Act,1926” to regulate conditions governing the registration of Trade Unions, obligations imposed on registered Trade Unions and right and liabilities thereof. The Act gave legal status to the Registered Trade Unions and conferred on them and their members a measure of immunity from Civil Suit and Criminal prosecution. Registration of Unions enhanced their status before general public. The Act gives protection to registered trade unions in certain cases against civil or criminal actions. Employers and Registered Trade Unions are required to submit annual statutory returns to the Registrar of Trade Unions of respective States/Union Territories regarding their membership, sources of income, distribution of expenditure and details of assets and liabilities, who in turn submit consolidated return on all these aspects to Labour Bureau in the specified proforma. With the passage of time and in the context of the world’s shifting political and economical scenarios, the characteristics and features of the Indian trade union movement have changed significantly. The present day trade unionism is not merely based on bargaining power with its employers – public or private – but also responsible for other domains of life, such as the i welfare of both the working class and society as a whole. From the very beginning, the Indian trade union movement attached itself to a political ideological framework and consequently attached to political parties. Many factors have contributed to the development of the political nature of Indian trade unions which include ; i) national political leaders inspired the birth of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and many served as its leaders; ii) trade unions aligned with political parties supported the fight for the country’s independence from British colonial rule; iii) government suppression to curb the communist-led militant labour movement from 1920 to 1950; iv) the State being the largest employer in the public sector became a negotiating actor in collective bargaining processes and v) the Trade Unions Act permits trade unions to appoint outsiders as office bearers. Thus many of the appointees are politicians and retired bureaucrats whose role is to resolve labour issues through political resource. The ideological splits of political parties and their dominance over trade unions hamper union’s unity and solidarity. It is observed that the nature of political unionism in India has explicitly contributed to making trade unions gradually disconnect with the interest of grass-root level workers and tarnish the traditional and exclusive role of trade union activities as a warehouse of protection and collective action. Since the new economic reforms regime of 1991, the government is introducing changes in the labour legislations and introducing casualisation in labour even in public sector undertakings thereby depriving the labour of their several rights. The government feels that existing labour legislations are so complicated and self- contradictory that employers and employees have difficulty in determining its actual meaning, and hence, simplification and clarification of these statutes and regulations is an imperative for the Indian government. ii Hence the central government has proposed major amendments in labour legislations which now come around 44 national legislations and around 100 state legislations. Possibly the most important reform the new government is expected to take up is the recasting of existing labour law into five broad codes: industrial relations, wages, social security, safety and welfare and working conditions. As early as 2002, the Second National Commission on Labour had suggested the formulation of labour codes similar to those in Russia, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Canada. The government stresses that the new reforms are not anti worker as the country cannot be happy when the workers are sad. But the assurances and the promises of the government could not pacify the unions and there were nationwide strikes and protests on September 2nd 2015 against the new legislative reforms. The study provides an assessment of the amendments made to labour legislations since 1991, the new economic reforms and also the proposed amendments in 2015. Fourteen legislations have been analyzed and some of the provisions like number of workers to form trade unions, conditions for strike, and provisions for retrenchment seem to restrict the rights of the workers as they allege. But the government is of the view that this is for ease of business and for the development of the country. With the interaction of trade union leaders and workers also, it is clear that they are all against these amendments. But at the same time government officials and management representatives seem to justify the move of the government. One fact cannot be denied that the LPG regime has increased the process of casualisation of employment thereby reducing the bargaining power of the workers. In a welfare state, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the rights and dignity of the workers and if at all they need to reform laws, which should not end in curtailment of the workers’ rights. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is our duty to express gratitude to all those who supported us in completing this project. It would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and organizations. First of all, we would like to record our sincere thanks to Shri. V. Veerakumar, the Executive Director, Kerala Institute for Labour and Employment (KILE) for selecting this study for the project work of 2015-2016. We take this opportunity to express our special thanks to Prof. T.S.N. Pillai, who provided expertise that greatly assisted the research. He has been a constant source of inspiration and confidence throughout the study. We are deeply indebted to him for his support and advice. We are grateful to the other core team members for their insightful comments and encouragements and also for their valuable suggestions on various aspects of the project. We are highly indebted to the organizations HLL Life care Limited, KELTRON, KTDC, Cosmopolitan Hospitals Pvt. Limited, English India Clays Limited and the Trade Unions, INTUC, UTUC, CITU, AITUC, HMS, BMS, the New Trade Union Initiative and the Labour Department, Govt. of Kerala for their timely help in permitting the officials and the workers for being interviewed for the project and constant support as well as for providing necessary information as and when asked in connection with the project without which timely completion of this would have remained a dream. We also take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all the respondents of the study, the trade union leaders, the grass root level workers, the management officials, the government representatives, and also the legal experts for their cooperation. We are really grateful to the leaders of trade unions, S/Sri Anathalavattom Anandan, C.P. John, J. Udayabhanu, R. Chandrasekharan, D. Thankappan, Thomas Joseph & Adv. iv Saji Narayanan who provided necessary information and valuable support for the project. We are indebted to the members of the panel of experts S/Sri Anil Narayanan, Prakash Oliver, Varkiachen Petta and V.J. Joseph who have extended expert opinions on the subject matter. We thank the librarians of Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala University Library, Palayam, and the Campus Library, Karyavattom for their