What do contract workers want?

More than 5000 contract workers from across India gathered in Bangalore for an All India Contract Workers Conference arranged by the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) on 1 and 2 February. The first day of the conference saw 5,000 workers marching in support of their demands, and raising voices primarily for regularisation of contracts, parity in wages, social security, better working conditions and dignity of labour.

The rally saw huge participation from contract workers in Bangalore and elsewhere in Karnataka, as well as workers from other states such as Bihar, Assam, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

The Modi government’s move to amend the Contract Labour (Abolition and Regulation) Act (CLARA) in a way that will exclude most establishments from the ambit of the law came in for sharp criticism from delegates attending the conference on the second day. They resolved to march to Parliament to press for their demands.

The conference also saw the launch of the All India Contract Workers Federation to lead and shape the struggle of contract workers across the country. It ended with a call for a strong and resistant-all India network of contract workers to resist the joint onslaught of the government, industry and the judiciary on the workers of India.

The demands raised by workers were as follows: Regularise all contract and other workers engaged in perennial nature of work; Amend the Act to facilitate regularisation; Allow continuance of same workers even in case of any change in contractors and make it a precondition for any contract; Treat outsourcing as a contract and bring outsourced workers under CLARA; Declare a minimum wage of Rs. 20,000/pm and revise it every year; Strictly implement the contract labour act which m andates same and similar pay and service conditions for those engaged in same and similar kind of work; Make the principal employer responsible for compliance with all labour laws; Remove the eligibility criteria of 20 and extend applicability to every individual worker; and Punish employers responsible for violation of mandatory facilities like ESI, PF, Gratuity, Privilege Leave (PL/EL), weekly off and national and festival holidays;

The contract workers want an assurance that no contract worker shall be terminated without following the procedure of show cause notice, charge sheet, domestic enquiry, etc.

No worker should be terminated without appropriate warning and other forms of milder punishments. Disproportionate punishment to workers should attract retaliatory punishment for errant employers, so they demand.