In %'"), Prime Minister Narendra Modi
announced his intention to enact major
labour and employment law changes as part of
his economic agenda. India is a federal system
with authority at both the central government
and state government level. Under the Indian
Constitution, labour and employment is an
area where both the central and state governments have authority to enact laws. However,
most labour and employment laws have come
from the central government and permit state
governments (or in certain industries and centrally-run territories, the central government)
to make further changes.
By March %'"*, the government had introduced two bills, the Industrial Relations
Code, %'"*, and the Code on Wages, %'"*,
which were intended to replace all other
bills on these subjects. The bills were part of
Modi’s agenda to deregulate industry in India
in order to attract investment, with a focus on
manufacturing. They followed several years
of notable and visible crackdowns on union
activity in manufacturing in India; for example, in Gurgaon, during the protests at Viva
Global, a garment factory, and at a Maruti
Suzuki factory.
In May %'"*, consultations with some unions
were held, but changes to the proposed laws
were marginal.%+ As a result, on % September
%'"+, central trade unions in India conducted a pan-India strike of "*' million workers,
or ('% of the Indian labour force, uniting
permanent and informal workers against the
proposed changes. The strikes represented a
major statement by workers against the state
whose failure to engage in meaningful consultation with workers has made direct action
critical.
In response, the government made marginal changes to the Code on Wages, %'"*, and
re-released the Code on Wages, %'"-. Overall, workers’ demands were not adequately
addressed in the updated draft. On January
,.$%'"#, unions went on strike again against
the %'"- bill.%- Nevertheless, after a landslide
re-election for Modi in May$%'"#, on$, August
%'"#, the Code on Wages,$ %'"# was passed.
Furthermore, the Code on Social Security,
%'"# was introduced on "" December %'"#
and the Occupational Safety, Health and
Working Conditions Code, %'"# was introduced on$ %($ July %'"#. An updated Industrial Relations Code, 2019 was introduced on
%, November %'"#. All three drafts after consideration in the lower house of India’s parliament were referred to Standing Committees
for review.
On , January %'%', central unions again coordinated a pan-India strike against the remaining three laws, even gaining the support of the
ruling party’s affiliate union.%, Subsequently,
new versions of the three bills were introduced
and passed by both houses of the parliament
in September %'%', amidst a boycott by the
opposition party and large-scale protests by
unions.%,
Map from https://freevectormaps.com/india/IN-EPS-01-0001?ref=atr
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents