No 'nokkukooli' in Kerala from May 1

In an investment friendly move, central trade unions in Kerala has endorsed the CPI(M) led LDF government's decision to end 'nokkukooli', under which money paid to workers without rendering any service.
'Nokkukooli' is widely considered as a product of militant trade unionism that had resulted in frequent altercations between workers and business people.
A decision to end the decades old practise of loaders taking money without rendering any service would come into affect from May 1, the labourers day.
Trade unions extended support to the government proposal at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here yesterday.
In a Facebook post, the Chief Minister said District Collectors would convene a meeting of trade unions to finalise the operation of the decision.

The unions also announced that they would end the practise of supplying workers to establishments, Vijayan said.

There was no complaint about labour in the state from trade and business or no company has shut down due to labour problem in the past one decade in the state, he said.
However, that was not the general impression about the state's labour sector, he said.
'Nokkukooli' and the supply of workers by unionshad tainted the image of the labour sector in the state, he said.
Government policy was that workers in each area should get jobs whenever a new industrial enterprise comes up there, he said.