Appeal for support for All India Contract Workers Conference The last decade of the 20th Century is the decade of the informalisation of the formal workforces, with the growth of a very large informal workforce, including contract and casual workers. According to the report by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector, unorganized workers make up 92.3% of the workforce and contribute 60 % of the GDP , with roughly 76% of the urban workforce being unorganised. The data of the NCEUS shows that the entire increase in the employment in the organised or formal sector between 1993-2004/05 has largely been of informal in nature, in other words, contract or casual labour. Further, there has also been a corresponding fall in the growth rate of wages, clearly pointing at the quality of employment that is being enjoyed by workers. These contract workers include contract powrakarmikas, who clean the streets, construction workers, who are involved in all building and construction work, from individual houses to the Bangalore Metro, contract workers in various public sector undertakings and contract workers in various industries etc. Their conditions of work are abysmal. To give one example, the contract powrakarmikas who work 365 days a year, from 6,30 to 2.30 every day, in several parts of the city of Bangalore have not been paid their wages for varying periods of 3 - 6 months. This is nothing but modern day slavery. In factories across Bangalore for instance, managements increasingly employ contract workers instead of hiring permanent workers. The ratio of contract workers to permanent workers is now 1: 10 in most factories . People who work even for 8-10 years are not made permanent and are on contract. Most contract workers and permanent workers do the same work. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) 1970 clearly mentions that there must be equal pay for equal work. However contract workers get paid around half of what permanent workers are paid. They face several other such problems at the workplace - Arbitrary terminations and no job security Wages are arbitrarily fixed without regard to minimum wage legislations Hours of work are long and go unchecked, overtime is usually not observed There are no social security benefits such as PF Absence of paid leave No workers facilities (such as toilets, crèche, adequate ventilation) is available at the worksite. Occupational health hazards and no compensation on accidents When Contract workers demanded their legally due rights, wages and better service conditions their contracts get terminated. Thus on the one hand, they have poor working conditions and the moment they start getting organized to ask for what is rightfully theirs, their job security is threatened. In their place, the companies hire fresh contract workers , of which there is a never ending pool, thanks to failing agriculture which has has caused increased migration and large surplus of labour in the cities. Worsening the existing situation is the fact that the Central Government led by Modi is now looking to make drastic changes to the little safeguards that contract workers have, including removing several contract workers from the purview of all labour welfare statutes and making it easier for industries and establishments to violate the law, by breaking regulatory mechanisms. Thus it is important we support collectives and unions of contract workers and support them to fight for their rights. It is in this context that the All India Central Council of Trade Unions is organising a All India Contract Workers Rally and Conference is being on 1st and 2nd February, 2015 in Bangalore. Below is the schedule: 1st Feb. 2015 10 AM - Rally from Freedom Park to Banappa Park 1st Feb. 2015 5 PM 2nd Feb. 2015 9 PM - Delegates Session at BBMP Kalyana Mantapa, Sindhi Colony, Cox Town, Bangalore The entire rally and conference is funded by workers and contributions from concerned persons. We therefore request you to contribute for the same. You may deposit your contributions in any of the following accounts and intimate to us: Account Name 1: AICCTU/ 0411 2010 1044 97/ Syndicate Bank/ Vimanapura Branch/ Bangalore/ Account Name 2: Maitreyi Krishnan or Mohan Kumar G/ 1093 0101 1002 432/ Vijaya Bank/ Infantry Road branch/ Bangalore Please let us know if you have made any contributions,so we can track the same. For any queries, please mail – maitreyi.ml@gmail
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 05:41:13 +0000
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