 "Govt's laboured delivery on labour reforms")
One of the factors delaying this reform process is the staunch opposition by the trade unions which have collectively called a nationwide strike on September 2. The industries are desperate for labour law reforms. "We are hopeful and positive about the reform process initiated by the government and hope it moves in the right direction. We want the changes as early as possible but there is a consultative process which we appreciate the government has to follow and get all the stakeholders on board," said Babu Khan, senior director at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
According to sources, the proposed industrial relations Bill, which eases retrenchment norms, has been sent back to a sub-committee for re-examination by the Union labour ministry after receiving staunch opposition from the trade unions. The Bill was discussed by a sub-committee of workers and employers for almost four months after trade unions had opposed various provisions of the Bill, especially those related to easing retrenchment for employers. The sub-committee is scheduled to meet on August 20.
The proposed industrial relations Bill has seen sent back for review despite the committee recommending some of the long-pending demands of the trade unions. These included mandatory recognising trade unions as representative of workers in case of a dispute and creating a re-skilling fund to train retrenched workers where the employer will have to pay 30 days of wage towards the fund. This was in addition to a three times increase in the compensation package in case of retrenchment.