13) AFTER LAND, IT’S LABOUR ON MODI’S CHOPPING BLOCK

By Baldev Padam

            Even as opposition over a Bill enabling corporate houses to easily acquire farmers' land continues, PM Narendra Modi has fired yet another salvo against Indian working people. Inaugurating the 46th Indian Labour Conference on July 20 in Delhi, he talked about overhauling labour laws as there were too many, some of them too old and needed reappraisal.

            Those who heard his speech (available online), found that it didn't specify the changes he intended to incorporate in the body of existing laws. What he sidetracked in his address was later brought to light by labour ministry bureaucrats.

            During his speech, Modi expressed anxiety over the increasing number of unemployed youth, and appealed to big business to provide them with apprenticeship opportunities. He didn't promise them a job thereafter in the public or private sector, nor job security to workers at their present workplace. Employers were also told to acknowledge and reward innovative capabilities of their workers.

            Modi referred to general discontent prevailing among workers without going into the causes. Evidently if an unskilled worker is paid a minimum wage linked to the cost of living index, or if a skilled one gets the living or fair wage even if the need-based wage isn't possible right now, they would be a happier lot. But in fact many qualified young people are either without jobs, or are forced to work for paltry wages. The PM didn't explain why the benefits of India's fast developing economy don't percolate down to the common people, and why the income disparity between the rich and the poor has widened so much in India.

            However, the PM assured, “Changes in the labour laws will be made with the concurrence of the unions... It is my effort to simplify the laws so that even the poorest are able to understand their rights and avail them.” To wipe away their tears, he assured an online facility for workers to know about their health and other records instantly on their cell-phones.

            The sheen of Modi's rhetoric vanished into thin air soon after the show ended, as ministry officials clarified to reporters that the heart of the overhaul was to relax strict hire-and-fire rules and to make it tougher for workers to form unions. The layoff  restrictions on employers however, would  be relaxed further.

            Indian trade unions are sharply divided on the basis of Left, Right or centrist political ideologies, which goes well with the ruling classes. The unions now must thank Modi for affording them a chance to stand united (maybe for a limited purpose) against the BJP government's imminent onslaught.

            India's top 11 unions, irrespective of their ideological mooring, have decided to observe a one day strike on September 2 against this tampering with the labour laws. On one hand the participants include the BMS (Bhartya Mazdoor Sangh), linked to Modi’s rightist ruling party, on the other are communist-led unions like CITU or AITUC, besides INTUC, led by the centrist Congress party. Many more independent associations and federations of workers in the public and private sector will join the action against attacks on workers' rights being made in the name of development.

            The BMS has warned the government that rapid economic growth should not be allowed at the cost of the workers. Airing similar views, the AITUC General Secretary said, “The government does not consult the unions while bringing amendments to labour laws. We are not against growth or investment but it cannot be at the cost of workers, underpayments and lawlessness,”

            Last year, after the federal labour minister announced proposals to amend labour laws, leaders of the CPI(M) warned that "the government thinks it can bulldoze labour laws as it has majority in Lok Sabha (Lower House)” but it will face protests in the streets if it goes ahead with these amendments. It appears that labour will meet Modi's challenge in the streets even if he succeeds in Parliament because of his party's majority there.

            The trade union movement says that the labour laws weren't offered to them on a platter by any government or by the factory owners. They were achieved through immense sacrifices in protracted struggles against all regimes, colonial and thereafter. The present dilution of laws is being undertaken by Modi under pressure of various national and transnational corporations, whom he has promised the green pastures of Indian industry. To his dismay, the clouds of resistance are gathering faster than expected.

            The PM has been placed in a tricky situation. Rajiv Biswas, a well-known economist, has opined, “Modi had little option but to push ahead with the measures... You cannot make political opposition an excuse for not taking tough decisions... without these reforms, the economy would stagnate, and frustrated investors would look elsewhere."

            Evidently India's PM has been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea! It is quite interesting to watch where he goes from here.

(The above article is from the September 1-15, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)