Page 4 - Workers

Delhi govt targets 1.5 mn construction workers, jump in welfare spending

Delhi government has targeted to raise the number of registered construction workers in the city to 15 lakh this year and increase spending on various welfare schemes for them by 20 times, officials said on Monday. The move comes in the wake of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier this year expressing dissatisfaction over less number of registration of workers and emphasising to increase it further. As per official data, the number of registered workers was 13 lakh by end of 2022-23. The Delhi government will also raise spending on welfare schemes meant for construction workers to Rs 246 crore this year, up from 12.66 crore last year, officials said. Last year over 4,500 applications were received from registered construction workers for various welfare schemes run by Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. Out of which, just over 2,000 were processed for benefits of different schemes with an expenditure of Rs 12.66 crore, a labour department officer said.

Rajasthan elections: CM approves retirement benefits for part-time workers

Rajasthan's animal welfare board has been named "Amrita Devi State Animal Welfare Board", after Amrita Devi Bishnoi, during a state cabinet meeting

American workers want almost $79,000 salary to start new job: US Fed survey

For men the average reservation wage was about $91,000 - and for women it was $25,000 lower than that

Farmers, workers protest against Centre's 'pro-corporate policies'

Farmers, agricultural labourers and industrial workers on Wednesday took part in a nationwide protest organised by different organisations against the "pro-corporate policies" of the BJP-led government at the Centre, said an outfit of cultivators which participated in the agitation. The protest coincided with the 81st anniversary of the Quit India movement. The agitation's slogan was "Corporate Looters, Quit India, Quit Agriculture. In an official release here, Ashok Dhawale, president, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said lakhs of peasants and workers came out on the streets to send a resolute message against the "corporate-communal nexus". Demonstrations and rallies were held across the country by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (JPCTUs). The AIKS, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India Agricultural Workers' Union (AIAWU) coordinated the programme. Rallies were taken out in Churu (Rajasthan), Bhiwani (Haryana), Solapur and

Thousands of LA city workers walk off job for 24 hrs over unfair practices

Thousands of Los Angeles city employees, including sanitation workers, lifeguards and traffic officers, walked off the job Tuesday for a 24-hour strike alleging unfair labour practices. Picket lines went up before dawn at Los Angeles International Airport and other locations and a rally was planned for later in the day at City Hall. SEIU Local 721 said airport custodians, heavy duty mechanics and engineers are among the more than 11,000 LA city workers who are striking. The union said its members voted to authorise the walkout because the city has failed to bargain in good faith and also engaged in labour practices that restricted employee and union rights. City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Monday. "They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January. The city will always be available to make progress 24 hours

Maharashtra: NDRF resumes op to rescue 4 workers trapped after well cave-in

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) resumed on Thursday the rescue operation at the site of an under-construction well where four workers are feared trapped after a cave-in in Maharashtra's Pune district, an official said. The incident occurred at Mhasobachi Wadi village in Indapur tehsil on Tuesday evening. According to officials, the well is 100-foot-deep with a diameter of 120 feet. The site was earlier used for quarrying, they said. An NDRF official said the rescue operation was suspended on Wednesday evening, as the site contained a substantial amount of debris, and the soil surrounding the well was also loose. We have resumed the operation today. It is a big well and during the construction, the inner concrete wall sank and those working at the bottom of the well got trapped, said the NDRF official. The official said around 30 NDRF personnel are taking part in the operation. Till yesterday (Wednesday), we were carrying out the operation with a lot of caution, but to

Retail inflation for industrial workers rises in June due to higher prices

Retail inflation for industrial workers inched up to 5.57 per cent in June compared to 4.42 per cent in May this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. "Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 5.57 per cent compared to 4.42 per cent for the previous month (May) and 6.16 per cent during the corresponding month (June 2022) a year before," a labour ministry statement said. Similarly, food inflation stood at six per cent against 3.24 per cent in the previous month and 6.73 per cent during the corresponding month a year ago, it added. The All-India CPI-IW (consumer price index for industrial workers) for June 2023 increased by 1.7 points and stood at 136.4 points. It was 134.7 points in May 2023. On one-month percentage change, it increased by 1.26 per cent with respect to the previous month against an increase of 0.16 per cent recorded in corresponding months a year ago, it stated. The maximum upward pressure in the current index came from Food & Beverages ...

Heatwaves endanger workers, reduce productivity: ILO's senior economist

Data from the UN's World Meteorological Organization reveals this July is set to be the hottest month ever recorded

Retail inflation for industrial workers eases to 4.42% in May from 5.09%

Retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 4.42 per cent in May from 5.09 per cent in April, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. "Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 4.42 per cent compared to 5.09 per cent for the previous month and 6.97 per cent during the corresponding month a year before," a labour ministry statement said on Friday. Food inflation stood at 3.24 per cent in May as against 4.16 per cent in the previous month and 7.92 per cent during the year-ago period. The All India CPI-IW for May 2023 increased by 0.5 points to 134.7. The maximum upward pressure in current index came from Food & Beverages group contributing 0.37 percentage points to the total change. At centre level, Jabalpur recorded a maximum increase of 5.2 points followed by Salem with 3.8 points. Among others, 2 centres recorded increase between 2 to 2.6 points, 14 centres between 1 to 1.9 points and 34 centres between 0.1 to 0.9 points. The index is compiled for 88 centres .

Amazon to Walmart: Workers' well-being tops agenda at annual company meet

Shareholders and companies have reached agreements on about a third of the requests. Most of the rest will go to a vote

Tarigami leads protest for minimum wages, regularisation of casual workers

CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Monday led a protest in Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital to mark International Labour Day, demanding the implementation of the Minimum Wages Act in letter and spirit while abolishing the contractual system of employment. He alleged that contractual and daily wage employees in the Integrated Child Development Scheme and the National Health Mission were deprived of basic minimum wages. "Our demand is that minimum fixed wages be given to every worker as set by the labour conference," Tarigami told reporters after the protest at Residency Road here. The Left leader said Kashmir has a history of struggles against labour exploitation. "In Zaldagar Kashmir, labourers had protested for their rights even before the May Day protests in Chicago in 1886. Workers here had fought against the taxes imposed by the then government," he added.

Swiggy partners with apna to hire 10,000 gig workers from tier 2, 3 cities

Online food delivery platform Swiggy has partnered with jobs and professional networking company apna to create 10,000 hyperlocal opportunities for its quick commerce grocery service -- Instamart -- in 2023. With this, the company is aiming to strengthen its delivery workforce in tier 2 cities. Announcing the partnership on Thursday, apna shared that in 2022, over 15 lakh users from tier 2, tier 3 cities and beyond applied for 30 lakh delivery roles on the platform, comprising almost 70 per cent of the new users growth in the delivery segment. Acquiring talent from tier 2 and 3 cities has been a daunting task for many organisations, owing to challenges such as lack of orientation, industry knowledge, inadequate experience, and ignorance about the current market scenario. This problem is particularly pronounced in India, where companies have long struggled to hire talent from smaller cities and towns. "With opportunities for delivery partners emerging in deeper pockets of the count

90% workers expect pay rise in 2023, 78% received one in 2022: Report

Workers' expectations around the pay rises this year have skyrocketed in India, with 90 per cent of people interviewed are looking for a hike in salary, a report said on Monday. In India, 90 per cent of workers interviewed expect a pay rise this year and on average, close to 20 per cent of the employees surveyed are anticipating an increase of 4-6 per cent, followed by 19 per cent anticipating a 10-12 per cent hike, ADP Research Institute's - People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View - report revealed. The report revealed that in India, 78 per cent of workers received a pay rise last year, and the hikes averaged 4-6 per cent. This year, even if there is an absence of salary hike in the country, a substantial 65 per cent of employees express a desire for some form of merit bonus, paid holidays or travel compensation, it stated. "Getting a pay rise has become increasingly important, particularly for those in lower- and middle-income brackets. With the rising cost of living, ...

Delhi to provide free bus travel, transit hostels to construction workers

Free bus travel, group life insurance and transit hostels -- these are some of the facilities the Delhi government will extend to the 13 lakh registered construction workers in the national capital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting with the Labour Department on Monday to review the functioning of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. Kejriwal said that even though 13 lakh construction workers are registered with the board, it has not developed any mechanism to verify their existence and reach out to them. "If the department is extending the benefit of these schemes to barely 400-500 people..., there is no point in running this department itself. If the department has Rs 3,000-4,000 crore lying with it, then it must extend the benefit of its schemes to all 13 lakh workers. There can be no compromise with the welfare of our workforce," he said. He also directed officials to conduct a proper exercise along with Revenue Department .

Vaiko urges Stalin to fulfil demands of Tamil Nadu's unorganised workers

He said that the BJP government at the Centre has passed labour laws without discussing with the trade unions and benefitting corporate companies

Kejriwal directs labour dept to reach out to 1.3 mn construction workers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed the labour department to reach out to over 13 lakh construction workers of the city and offer them free bus passes after proper verification and registration with the relevant welfare board, officials said on Wednesday. The Kejriwal government in May 2022 had announced free travel for registered construction workers in public buses. The move was aimed at benefiting over 10 lakh people. Charing a high-level review meeting on various ongoing projects of the labour department, Kejriwal directed it to reach out to over 13 lakh construction workers in Delhi and offer them free bus passes after proper registration and verification with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board, according to an official statement. The chief minister also directed the department to assess the possibility of getting group life insurance for construction workers, similar to that provided for lawyers, it said. Kejriwal also said the labo

Migrant workers denied pay, walks 1,000 km in 7 days to return Odisha

In a near rerun of the dark days of COVID lockdown, three destitute migrant workers from Odisha walked and hitch-hiked over 1,000 km to Koraput on their way home to Kalahandi from Bangalore in seven days. They reached their homes on Sunday, their pockets empty and holding on only to their water bottles, with tales of struggle, hardships, exploitation and gestures of help from unknown people during the long journey. The trio - Budu Majhi, Katar Majhi and Bhikari Majhi from Tingalkan village of Kalahandi district had undertaken the arduous journey after being denied their wages by their employer in far away Bengaluru. They had exhausted their meagre savings and had no food or money left. On reaching Koraput, they told locals at Padalguda in Potangi block that they had started their journey on March 26 and walked even at night over the seven days. At some places they managed to get lifts. Many people, touched by their ordeal came forward spontaneously and helped them. A shopkeeper ...

China loses more than 40 mn workers in three years as population ages

The data reflects a rapid rise in the number of people retiring, likely raising pressure on Beijing to accelerate unpopular plans to raise official retirement ages

Nearly 39% of global knowledge workers to go hybrid by 2023-end: Report

IT workers are more inclined to quit their jobs than employees in other functions as they look for greater flexibility, improved work-life balance and better career opportunities

France to unveil pension norms that upset workers, unions call for protest

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is to unveil on Tuesday a highly sensitive pension overhaul aimed at pushing up the retirement age that has already prompted vigorous criticism and calls for protests from leftist opponents and worker unions. The minimum retirement age to be entitled to a full pension is expected to be gradually increased from 62 to 64 or 65, in line with a longstanding pledge by President Emmanuel Macron. Details are to be released by Borne at a news conference. The government argues that French people live longer than they used to and therefore need to work longer to make the pension system financially sustainable. All French workers receive a state pension. Centre-left and hard-left worker unions unanimously expressed their disapproval of the proposed changes after talks with Borne last week. Some are in favour of an increase in payroll contributions paid by employers instead. The country's eight main worker unions are gathering on Tuesday to set the date o