‘Creating an ambience
where both workers and managements understand their rights and duties is no
tall order’.
The Centre is engaged
in serious discussions with trade unions over the new labour code, with a view
to improving the ease of doing business. But missing from the debate is the
issue of the obligations of workers. During the 1960s and 1970s, workers’
education, aided by the government, provided them with the opportunity to know
their rights. But the whole campaign was on rights and not obligations. Once
rights are conferred on any group, and they become binding, it becomes
difficult to reduce or deprive such rights.
Trade unions have also
been the foundation on which many political careers have been built. Vested
interests are bound to exist in such a context that could affect the speed of
reforms. That said, interests need to be balanced. Productivity and security in
industry depends as much upon the welfare of workers as that of management.
Technology is a double-edged sword while knowledge is a sharp tool in the hands
of both parties.
Industry is looking
forward to flexibility in employing labour for various categories of the
workforce, including the non-permanent flexible category, linking pay to
performance, reviewing work norms on a regular and real-time basis, healthy
cooperation between the management and workers for introducing new technologies
and new work practices, and promoting leadership among workers for efficient
bargaining.
Preventive litigation
We have Bar
Associations right from the district to the State levels and the Bar Council
with State chapters. There is no evidence that these organisations have ever
put in efforts to prevent litigation. Whenever any dispute arises between
management and labour, the advocates argue for workers’ compensation.
The Association could
develop a code among advocates on preparing proper ground for arguments based
on not just the law but on humanitarian and welfare considerations. Perhaps,
the new evolving labour code can consider introducing this aspect.
Processes are more
important than products and output. There are a number of schemes targeted at
the welfare of workers.
Like a menu card in a
hotel, each industry must display these schemes. For instance, there are social
welfare schools where a child can be educated at least cost and better than
normal schools — private or public.
There are scholarships
for workers’ children, periodic health check-ups and other benefits available
through Employee’s State Insurance and other channels. An industry that
provides knowledge and access to workers of many of such facilities can be
incentivised through annual awards.
Kindle
entrepreneurship
Each child from the
age of twelve should be equipped with some skill or the other as part of the
curriculum. Internships provide the best opportunity. During the vacations
children could be provided access to such skills and services with the help of
either the industry or the NGOs. This provides them the mindset of
entrepreneurship. Such internships should get them some monetary incentives at
the hands of the industry or establishment to which they are attached.
FDIs that come in have
their eyes set on markets and profits. They might, by restructuring processes,
cause drastic reduction in employment. Therefore, enhancing the skills and even
re-skilling and multiple skilling would assume importance so that alternate
opportunities could be safely exploited without disturbance to the family life
of the workers.
A culture of unity
We often hear people
telling with pride that they belong either to a SBI family or the Tata group or
Birla group long after they left the enterprise. Preserving this sentiment
demands a basic recognition that industry is a larger family, and management is
the karta of this joint family. Labour reforms hopefully would take adequate
care of the welfare of the workers and enhance their productivity in India’s
unique cultural ambience. The new code and new statutes should accommodate
these aspects.
The writer is an
economist. With inputs from Anil Kumar, Advocate, AP High Court
(This article was
published on October 30, 2015)
Printable version |
Oct 31, 2015 8:30:04 AM |
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/a-consensual-approach-to-labour-reform/article7823694.ece
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