Parity between contract and regular workers, and having skilled floor managers to address labour troubles were the key lessons companies internalised during 2011 — moving away from a year that saw at least a dozen major strikes affecting work across sectors.
Year 2011 saw the emergence of disproportionate pay to contract workers as a major reason for dissatisfaction among workers. Three strikes at Maruti Suzuki India Limited’s Manesar plant were emblematic of this rising trend.
The year began with an eight-day strike at Mahindra and Mahindra’s Nashik plant over the demand of “equal pay for equal work”. The year ended with a three-month strike at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ API manufacturing facility near Visakhapatnam over disagreement over pay to contract workers.
Industry agrees that the issue of contract workers was brewing and ignored for long, and needs immediate attention. According to estimates, around 94 per cent of the workers in the country were employed in the unorganised sector, while the rest six per cent form part of the organised sector. Most labour laws are enforceable in the organised sector; keeping a huge work force out of bounds of any labour rights. Most companies have different pay and incentives for contract and regular workers, with tabled being tilted against the contract workforce.
Amitava Ghosh, senior vice-president and head regulatory at TeamLease Services, an HR services company, notes that upsurge in strikes sends a message to the government that regularisation of contract labour should be stressed and laws to be amended accordingly. “Else the crisis, like the present ones, will recur,” he notes.
Adds Sundeep Arora, vice-president, legal and compliance, Gi Staffing Services Private Limited: “If workers are deprived of basic rights,a hygienic and improved working conditions and equal pay for equal work on a par with permanent employees of an organisation, sooner or later unfavourable situations may occur.”
Companies also say strong floor managers, skilled to handle labour trouble, are missing. “Most companies don’t have good employee relations managers,” shrugs E Balaji, MD and CEO, Ma Foi, an international HR service provider. “Because of it, they aren’t able to gauge and address labour issues. Companies need to hire more such managers to address labour trouble.”
Points out TeamLease’s Ghosh: “Strike is always a manifestation of unrepresented causes of workers but judicious study and foresight of employer to predict the workers’ demand and gradual preparation and planning can mitigate the strike at any point of time.” From 2011, “the lesson learnt is that workers participation in decision-making and transparency in input and output of the establishment can bring back peace in the industry”.
However, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry disagrees that the year 2011 was any different from any other. B P Pant, the chamber’s director (labour employment) agrees on the need to balance the pays of contract workers versus the regular workers, but argues that de-politicisation of trade unions is the need of the hour. “The issue of contract workers needs to be tackled,” he says. “But, the biggest threat is the affiliation of trade unions to political parties.”
For the trade unions, the previous year was also one of soul-searching, as major strikes, such as the ones in Maruti, Mahindra and Mahindra and Bosch, were led by leaders who had no political affiliation with any trade unions or political party.
This changing trend forced trade unions to come together for the first time, keeping aside their political rivalries. As part of this, on November 8, all 12 central trade unions came together to lead a national protest against rising prices and unemployment. To further this, another national joint-strike has been planned by the trade unions on February 28.
“There are few challenges for us going in 2012,” says Saji Narayanan, National President, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, country’s largest trade union by membership. “During 2011, for the first time the trade unions raised issue of price rise. This is a new territory for us. Second, we want to increase our presence in the unorganised sector which has the maximum labour population.”
J John, editor, Labour File, a bi-monthly magazine on labour issues, says the road ahead will be challenging for the trade unions. “The trade unions have to reconcile with the new realties,” he notes. “This year saw many strikes happen without much assistance from them. Trade unions have to understand why this is happening more often.”
Source : Business Standard, January 8, 2012
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