Centre in a fix over amending British-era industrial labour law reform

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s efforts to amend the British-era industrial relations law — touted as its most ambitious labour law reform — is facing its biggest hurdle so far: the state governments.

Pressure from the labour unions had forced the Centre to dilute several proposals in the draft Industrial Relations Bill 2015, including easing the retrenchment norms for industries and curbing outsiders’ role in trade union management at the industry-level.

This has put the labour and employment ministry in a fix in more than one way. If the Industrial Relations (IR) Bill in its present form becomes a law, the