Trade unions' Bengal campaign for ILO convention ratification

A forum of several central trade unions will Tuesday launch a Caravan Campaign in West Bengal pressing for the ratification of ILO conventions relating to right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Announcing the campaign, the West Bengal Trade Unions Joint Action Forum Sunday said the non-ratification of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention nos. 87 and 98 has been jeopardising the rights of workers across the country.

"Despite being a member of the ILO, the government of India has never bothered to ratify the conventions. The result is there are thousands of trade unions which are regularly denied recognition and registration," Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) secretary Prashanta Nandi Chowdhury said here.

The Forum comprises trade unions, including the Communist Party of India-Marxist affiliated CITU and CPI labour wing All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).

The forum said as many as 2,500 labour unions had applied for registration in West Bengal between 2011-2012 but only 600 were registered.

"Had the convention been ratified, these unions would not have been denied registration. Governments across the country have been undermining labour rights, that is why the central government preferred not to ratify the conventions because it will then become accountable to the ILO," said Chowdhury.

The Forum also expressed its concern over the proposed amendments in the Indian factories law.

"The proposed Factories Act will recognise only those units which have at least 20 workers or more. If the amendments are implemented, it will take away rights of thousands of workers working in small and tiny units," he added.

The campaign involves a signature campaign appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ratify the twin conventions to ensure core labour standards are implemented in the country.