Changes to labour laws will put most workers out of legal protection: Unions -Sharath S Srivatsa

-The Hindu

They say several crucial laws have been amended to tilt the balance in favour of industries

Bengaluru: As the State government unveiled the New Industrial Policy, 2020–25, to attract investors, trade unions are protesting over the manner in which several crucial labour laws have been amended to tilt the balance in favour of industries.

The sweeping changes brought to Factories Act, Industrial Disputes Act, and Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, unions fear, will put more than 70% of the factories in the State outside the purview of the labours laws, which makes workers vulnerable for exploitation and without any legal safeguards.

“The Factories Act, which governed workers’ overtime wages, hours of work, shift timings, safety and health issues, and even designs of the industry for workers’ safety, will not be applicable to a majority of factories any more. The factories were already circumventing the law by reducing the permanent workforce and increase contract labour, and changes to the Industrial Disputes Act will only push workers into penury,” said M.D. Harigovind, general secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, Bengaluru, said.

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