Alternative Law Forum, a lawyers’ collective given to research and intervention on social issues, has come out with a series of recommendations for the government and factory managements to address workers’ issues.
The recommendations are a fallout of a study of a closure of a textile factory in Srirangapatna during the peak pandemic and lockdown and is reckoned to be timely in view of the recent protests by workers in Bengaluru and elsewhere.
The forum has pointed out that Karnataka was currently experiencing industrial turmoil due to “increasing suppression of workers’ rights’’ and ‘abdication’ of the State’s responsibility in enforcing the law on “errant companies’’.
A release issued by the Forum said the strike at an automobile plant, the incidents at Wistron and long strike by workers of a factory of another leading textile brand are symptoms of the same cause.
The Forum expressed concern that this is the situation with the existing labour law regime which was strong at least on paper. But with the new labour code, the rights of workers will be further threatened as also the stability of the industrial sector.
The Forum has recommended that counselling services for the workers’ mental health be made a public health priority and the State government establish a helpline to address the desperation and distress of women workers.
It suggested that the Labour Department empower workers by creating greater awareness of their rights. Training in labour laws and anti-sexual harassment laws must be undertaken for all garment workers through the Department of Women and Child Development.
Calling for strengthening the Labour Department, the Forum recommended that it should be more pro-active in terms of undertaking inspections, examining the terms of agreement and compensation where factory closures have taken place and act in ways that increase the confidence of workers and unions that the State is protecting their rights.
Calling for universal income and food support for workers, the Forum said the State government should undertake a survey of working class households, identify key issues around income, health and food security and implement measures to address them. It also called for co-opting international brands to provide funds as an urgent COVID-19 relief measure.
Increase in minimum wages, strengthening trade unions, and ensuring compliance with labour laws were among other measures recommended by the Forum
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