Consultations on proposed industrial code a farce: Unions

Slamming the proposed industrial relations code, labour unions today said the consultations in this regard are a "farce" as representatives of workers should have been involved at the drafting stage itself.
The draft Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2015 combines Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Trade Unions Act, 1926, and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
The proposed industrial relations code provides for hire and fire of employees and makes it tough to form trade unions.
"As per the ILO convention 141, the interested parties should be consulted at time of drafting a legislation. The government is imposing this draft on us," All India Trade Union Congress Secretary D L Sachdev said after a tripartite consultation meeting between unions, government and representatives of employers.

Centre of Indian Trade Unions President A K Padmanabhan said, "This tripartite consultation on the draft industrial bill is a farce. We will meet at national convention of central trade unions on May 26 where we would decide about further action which includes strike also."
The government is diluting existing labour laws as it thinks "these are impediments to economic growth", he added.

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said, "We have decided to form a committee to study the draft code on industrial relations where two members each from Centre, state, trade unions and employers side would participate and submit a report in next 15 days."

The Minister said that the report would be discussed in the next meeting. However, he did not specify the date of the next meeting.
Sachdev said: "There is no World Bank study that shows that labour laws are impediments to economic growth. If we decide to go on strike on May 26 then it would show our anger against the government's move to dilute labour laws which provide basic rights to workers in the country."
BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) President B N Rai, who participated in the meeting, also protested against the provisions which dilute the existing labour laws.

Echoing similar views, All India Trade Union Congress Working President H Mahadevan said, "They (government) are pushing corporate agenda. The draft law will pressurize the workers only. If this laws is passed then we would go back to pre-Independence era where workers had no right."
"The whole exercise of combining existing 44 labour laws into five codes is to dilute existing labour laws and the government wants to rush through it", he added.
The meeting called by the Labour Minister was attended by the employers' representative as well as government officials.