Who will Make in Gurgaon?

  • Abhishek Behl / FG
  • India
  • Mar 07, 2015


Photo: Prakhar Pandey

The industrial unrest in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt, which remains inert most of the time but erupts suddenly in the form of violent protests and fights between industry and labour unions, is unlikely to end soon. Without any safety valve mechanism in place that could allow the release of some of the pent up steam, there are chances that the simmering tension in the industrial belt will lead to repeated incidents of violence - similar to what happened in Udyog Vihar recently, when workers of a garment unit went on a rampage, smashing cars and damaging property worth crores. The major reason why the situation remains unresolved is that all stakeholders continue to look at the problem from within their narrow prisms, and there is no mechanism or process within which dialogue can take place and trust can be built. Most industrialists in Gurgaon firmly believe that industrial disputes are a law and order problem, and the State must make an authoritarian intervention to resolve this problem for them. On the other hand, the workers and their trade unions see both private industry and the government as exploiters. The government, they allege, is aligned with the interests of the industry, and it has never done anything to ensure that labour gets its due share.
A majority of the trade union leaders in Gurgaon and Haryana believe that private industry is concerned only about profits, and wants a weak labour force, which they can hire and fire at will. They refuse to make an employee permanent, even after the person has done the same job, full time, for years. Some industrialists, allege trade union leaders, also have scant respect for labour rules or occupation, health and safety standards. The labour force cites the case of the hundreds of Maruti workers who were fired from their jobs indiscriminately (after a 2012 protest ended in violence and the death of a manager); a large number of workers are still incarcerated in jail. RS Pathak, a lawyer who has been fighting the case for the Maruti workers, says that industrial relations in Gurgaon-NCR will remain in the doldrums till the government creates the right environment and maintains neutrality. "Right now the government does not have a cohesive policy on how to handle labour issues. The rights of the workers are being allowed to be bulldozed, and as a result there is anger and frustration among the workers. If they want to set up and register a trade union, a basic right, they are opposed tooth and nail by the management, and the Labour department officials also discourage the workers," alleges Pathak. The lawyer says that the legal battle for the 147 workers arrested for the ‘murder’ of a senior executive has been an uphill task, as the State government has been antagonistic. At the larger level, the industrial workforce and the trade unions have also launched a campaign against the government, accusing it of trying to dilute the Labour laws in favour of industry. "We fear that the BJP governments at the Centre and the State are trying to dilute laws in favour of factory owners, and we will oppose this move tooth and nail. Local factors, like the status of workers and facilities, need to be taken into account while forming labour policies," says Amit Yadav, a National level Union functionary who hails from Gurgaon. Yadav, along with leaders from other labour unions, says that the Centre and State should also be looking to reform labour laws for the benefit of workers; and of course ensuring that current laws are strictly enforced. Labour experts believe that India has some of the most complicated labour laws in the world, which are the result of our colonial heritage. Despite repeated calls for uniform labour laws, the government has failed to take any steps in this direction. And now, the unions fear, with a vision for the revival of manufacturing and new investment, the govt. is under pressure from industry for introducing sweeping (one-sided) labour reforms. Anil Kumar, a senior trade union leader, says that there are hundreds of labour laws that have been enacted by different States, apart from those made by the Union government. Many of these laws have provisions that are inconsistent with the others, says Kumar. For example, the Minimum Wages Act is applicable to all workers and establishments, but the Payment of Wages Act is applicable to establishments with ten and more workers, and also to those where salary is less than Rs 18,000. Likewise, while the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is applicable to all factories for the settlement of industrial disputes, several of its clauses relating to layoffs, retrenchments and closures have limited applicability. Advocate Ritu Singh, who is a senior functionary of the Garments and Allied Workers Union, says that there are only a small percentage of workers that has the protection and the freedom to organise as per trade union laws. "The condition of the garment workers is especially bad, despite there being almost four to five lakh workers employed by this industry in Gurgaon," asserts Singh. The garment workers in the City are the least organised, as the majority of the units do not allow trade unions to be formed – in fact there is seldom space for even dialogue. The shop floors of the garment factories allegedly witness regular intimidation and even physical violence, which is very frustrating and worrying for the workers. There are almost three hundred factories in Gurgaon that manufacture and export garments. These companies also undertake contract jobs for large MNC brands like JC Penny, GAP, Net and several others across America and Europe. While the owners of these export houses have benefited from the unregulated garment industry, the labour has suffered because of poor wages and working conditions. These workers, mostly migrants, are not allowed vote or to avail the State's services and schemes; they suffer abuse not only at the hands of factory owners, but even sometimes their landlords. Although factory workers are entitled to social security, PF, ESI and other benefits, these are mostly denied to the garment workers, alleges Ritu Singh. Workers also allege that they have been working on the same posts for years, and continue to be paid just the minimum wages; even those with ten years of experience are paid the minimum wage. pay. Questions are also being raised on the functioning of the Labour department, as it has not been able to (or willing to) implement the Labour rules in letter (let alone spirit). Ravi, a worker from UP who lives in Kapashera and has been working in the industry for over a decade, says, "Those who are close to the management are sometimes able to get cycles, eyeglasses, or money for the marriage of their daughters, but the State has provided no welfare to us ever." A majority of the workers are surviving on a monthly wage of Rs. 6 to 7,000 rupees, and a couple is able to earn about double of that. However, given the high cost of living in Gurgaon - for rent, food, health and education – there is need to always ‘cut back’; savings remain a dream. Singh says that to augment their income, the garment labour puts in 'overtime', which should be paid at double the normal rates. However, in a majority of the companies the overtime is paid on ‘single rates’, and the time is also not calculated properly - which is breeding strong resentment. "When a worker joins, he or she is made to sign a bunch of papers, which include the appointment letter as well as the ‘full and final settlement’ papers. These are retained by the company. If you ask any questions, you are not hired," says one of the workers. Ameena Sherwani, an industrialist and entrepreneur, says that this plight of the workers has to be accepted and understood by the government as well as the private industry. "Unless we take care of the workers, this tension between the two sides is going to continue. The government, and in our case HSIIDC, has played truant and denied the labour force their due facilities; they have also forced ‘enhancement charges’ on industry, thus hitting both sides," she says. As per Sherwani, 200 acres of land, which was meant for industrial housing, truck parking, schools and sports facilities for workers, has been sold out to commercial interests. She however also puts the blame of deterioration in industrial relations on workers and trade unions as well; she thinks they have become over aggressive. 

To put a point across to the government, which they believe is trying to ‘liberalise’ Labour laws, trade unions from across the political spectrum - including the AITUC, INTUC, CITU, Hind Mazdoor Sabha - have united and given a call for a Jail Bharo satyagraha. Anilji Ghanghas, a senior leader of AITUC, says, "We want pro-labour rules and regulations, and there should be no privatisation of public sector units." Harish Sharma, President of the Hero Motors Union, says that the workers face several problems due to the contract labour system, and there is large-scale disparity on the shop floor. "A large number of casual workers who are hired for auxiliary work are forced to do regular work, but they are paid much lesser wages for the same work. The contractors often do not pay the promised wages, and even play around with the labour’s share of ESI and PF," says Sharma. The government, like industry (perhaps influenced by it) sees the unrest in labour as basically a law and order problem, which can be resolved through police intervention… and perhaps some counselling. There is little will or vision to look at the issue holistically, despite the industrial future of Gurgaon being at stake today – mainly owing to labour issues. Some large companies have opted to move to other States for their expansion/new plants, and some others have just migrated. 

R C Bidhan, Additional Labour Commissioner, Gurgaon division, says that they are working hard to improve the industrial relations in this region. "We are trying to set up a tripartite dialogue system to help settle any disputes, and the arguments put forth by all the stakeholders will get equal weight," he says. When asked why the local industry was reluctant to allow the formation of trade unions, Bidhan says that they will reach out to industry, to ensure that democratic institutions guaranteed by law are allowed to be formed, and also permitted to function with ease. Referring  to the recent violence in Udyog Vihar, he says that it was the result of a misunderstanding, and the workers protested because of a rumour. The main problem, he says, is that there a vast communication gap between the workers and management, which he aims to bridge by reaching out to all the players and also organising discussions and seminars. The workers, however, are not satisfied with what is being planned by the Labour department (there is a huge trust deficit here), and are planning to organise a large-scale agitation to stop the proposed unilateral changes in Labour laws. Trade union leaders say that while they support labour reforms, these cannot be decided without a proper dialogue process, and they definitely cannot be one-sided. Manufacturing and industry cannot ever grow without a motivated labour force. The crying need is to introduce reforms in law that promote productivity and equity, and dignity – and then apply and practice them uniformly in letter and spirit. For example, Labour laws should be rationalised into 5 to 6 groups, there should be an Act that protects collective bargaining, there should be a law that protects migrant labour, contract labour should be abolished, labour disputes should be handled through a separate judicial process and there should be healthy and safe work practices. Increasing self-certification by employers should not become the norm – there must be regular and adequate checks. 

The primary contention of the workers and unions is that while industry should become more competitive and should also be given the required flexibility to operate in tough economic conditions, the rights of workers cannot be sacrificed at that altar. Skilled workers will indeed be the foundation for any big leap in manufacturing – for Make in India. All the stakeholders need to understand this well, and work accordingly for their mutual prosperity.

 

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