RS Passes 3 Key Bills on Labour Reforms Amid Opposition Boycott

The Indian Parliament. Image used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, 23 September, passed three labour reforms as the Opposition continued their protest over farm bills outside the Parliament.

The Opposition boycotted both the Houses on Tuesday and had written to Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu, asking him not to pass the three labour related bills in Rajya Sabha, in the absence of the MPs from the Opposition party.

“Don't let it get passed unilaterally... will be a blot on democracy,” wrote the Opposition, reported NDTV.

Soon after the labour reforms bills were passed in the House, the Opposition started protesting against it, though the central government claims that these bills will bring a big change in the labour sector.

Meanwhile, the RSS's Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and other trade unions have also protested against the labour bills.

Trade Unions Back Bharat Bandh

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has issued a letter saying that the government-made laws seem to benefit industrialists, businessmen and bureaucrats, adding that the workers were not taken care of. BMS also claimed that the suggestions they had given have not been given due consideration.

Apart from BMS, other labour unions have also opposed the bill passed by the government. Among these, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC Textile - Hosiery Workers Union and Factory Workers Union have given their support to Bharat Bandh, that will be held on Friday, 25 September.

‘Will Only Benefit Industrialists’

Jharkhand Pradesh President of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) Rakeshwar Pandey state that a decision regarding these bills will be taken at a national level, and once the decision is made, it will be opposed in all states.

We have been constantly opposing the Labor Law Amendment, the workers have been continuously protesting against it, but the government is doing what they want to do. This will only benefit industrialists.

Rakeshwar Pandey, Jharkhand Pradesh President (INTUC)

Pandey said that they won’t remain silent against this arbitrariness. “The movement against the government will be waged continuously,” said Pandey.

Unions are also opposing the decision to privatise the state-owned company and allow FDI to 100 percent in some key areas. BMS General Secretary Vijesh Upadhyay said that they will have a meeting on this particular subject soon and will decide on the future strategy.

Meanwhile, the government said that changes in the labour law have been made keeping in mind the changes happening in the businesses currently.

What Are the Three Labour Reforms Bills?

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; and the Code on Social Security, 2020 were passed when the Opposition was not present in the House as part of its protest against the government's two farm bills that were passed on Sunday amid widespread protest in various states by farmers.

Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar had introduced these bills on 19 September, with substantive changes after withdrawing the three codes tabled in the Parliament in 2019, reported news agency IANS.

In his concluding remark following the debate on these code Bills, Gangwar said that various changes have been done in the labour court as well as in the preamble, and that 174 out of 233, or 74 per cent, of the recommendations of the standing committee on labour across three codes have been included.

The codes will give powers to state governments on rules related to hiring, retrenchment and fixing work hours in their factories and establishments while restricting powers of the workers to form unions.

Besides, it will ensure that the government extends social security to all, including the unorganised and gig workers in a phased manner.

What Happened in Parliament?

Opposition leaders on Tuesday, 22 September, staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha, demanding revocation of the suspension of all eight Members of Parliament, by protesting near the Gandhi statue in the premises.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, meanwhile, urged Opposition leaders to “rethink, introspect, return to the House to take part in discussions.”

The members suspended from the House are Rajeev Satav, KK Ragesh, Syed Nasir Hussain, Ripun Bora, Dola Sen, Elamaram Kareem, Sanjay Singh and Derek O’Brien.

(With inputs from Hindi Quint, NDTV and IANS)