Union Power March 2012

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A monthly bulletin of the New Trade Union Initiative March 2012

Contents

EDITORIAL

SPECIAL REPORT 2

NTUI Celebrates International

Working Womens Day

AFFILIATE NEWS 5

Condolence Meeting for ComradeIqbal Singh Tanda

Asom Majuri Shramik Unionlaunches 100-hr strike

Forest workers protest againstillegal mining in Sonbhadra

Wastepickers union protests

against Waste-to-Energy incineratorin Ghazipur

CAMPAIGN NEWS 6

CAMPAIGN ON OSH

CAMPAIGN AGAINSTDISPLACEMENT

CAMPAIGN ON CLIMATEJUSTICE

CAMPAIGN ON RIGHT TOFOOD AND WORK

NEWS UPDATES 6

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

LETTER TO PRIME 7MINISTER

PRESS STATEMENT 8

Printed and Published by Ashim Royfor the New Trade Union Initiative,

B-137, Dayanand Colony, First Floor,

Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delhi110024Phone: 011-26214538/ 26486931

Fax: 011-26486931Email:[email protected]

UNION POWER

E D I T O R I A L

The Union Budget for 2012-13 signals three issues of significance about the UPA governments understanding of theeconomy and its capacity for economic management. Firstly, that the government has lost control over publicfinances and its ability to shape the way the economy evolves. Secondly, even as growth deceler ates rapidly, the

government fails to come up with a credible economic revival plan. And finally, despite the rhetoric of inclusion,government has reaffirmed its commitment to neo-liberalism by according to global and domestic private capital thecentral role as drivers of investment and therefore of growth.

An economic situation with high inflation, a declining rate of growth as a result of a slowdown in investment and a

rising trade deficit, unless reversed, would necessarily lead to a fall in jobs and wages contributing to a fall in

consumption and output leading to a further widening of income inequalities along with a lower rate of growth. Whatthe government is unwilling to face up to is how bankrupt its growth model is.

There is little doubt that the RBIs anti-inflation policy has been a failure. High interest rates that have raised the cost

of capital are at least partially responsible for the investment slowdown but have been much less effective intempering consumption growth. This implies that despite high inflation of wage and essential goods, consumptiondid not decline but has continued, out of sheer necessity or even distress further implying the fact that the presentphase of inflation has disproportionately impacted the working class.

In 2011-12 the budget deficit has shot up to 5.9% of GDP from 4.9%. Despite the governments claim that this is dueto a rise in public expenditure, the primary cause for the growing budgetary deficit is the inability of government toraise sufficient tax revenue. In fact by the governments own admission it has failed to collect personal income and

corporate taxes to the extent of Rs. 32,000 crores in 2011-12 as compared to the budget estimates made in February2011. Year on year the UPA government has handed out tax reliefs and concessions wherein the revenue forgone has

come to be nearly 75 paise of every rupee collected in taxes and as a proportion of GDP, the revenue forgone exceedsthe budget deficit. Further, the present budget has created tax imbalances that favour the rich and place anexcessively large and increasing burden on the working class. The UPA government has passed on substantial

personal income tax breaks to those in the upper income bracket. These tax breaks have come along with an acrossthe board 2% increase in the service tax and extention of service taxes to just about every sphere of economic

activity. Significantly, all healthcare services in the private sector are covered by Service Tax. With 75% of healthservices nationwide in the private sector, this places a clear and direct additional cost on working class. With acommitment to fiscal prudence, government promises to cut the subsidy bill to less than 2% of GDP. The reduction

of subsidies on fuel, prices of food and other essential commodities will push inflation up further. Despite claims ofincrease in money wages and inflation being triggered by wage inflation, the RBI admits that this wage increase islimited to a salaried section that has now been further appeased by the income tax break.

The budget seeks to directly attack working class earnings through the reduction in the allocation for the Mahatma

Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme from Rs. 40,000 crores in 2011-12 to Rs. 33,000 crores for 2012-13. By


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UNION POWER March 2012

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NTUI Celebrates International Working Womens Day

Since its inception the NTUI has been deliberating onthe issues that affect working women at their workplace,

in unions and in society. The Second General Assemblyof the NTUI resolved to focus on organising in sectors

employing large numbers of women workers. Thisinitiative came from the core understanding that

fundamental changes in the union movement can bemade by expanding the base of women workers in

unions to enable and sustain womens leadership. Andto achieve this, the NTUI ... must have a specific

action and programme addressing issues of women asworkers, as part of working families and communities

of working people.In its third General Council held in Kolkata, NTUI in itsresolution on Women and Work, recognised that themajority of its women membership are in non-standardemployments such as rural work including forest work,

honorary work, domestic work, garbage collection, sexwork and also in sectors such as the garment industry,construction, plantations, hospital and municipal work

and the issues that have emerged from the experience ofaffiliates can be broadly classified into issues of: a)Recognition of Work; b) Discrimination; c) Work

Conditions and d) Harassment including sexualharassment. These issues pose serious obstacles to the

self-organising capacity of women workers. Hence, theNTUI resolved to build a national campaign in 2012 toaddress working womens issues beginning with an 8March mobilisation across the country on:

i. A Living Wage,ii. Equal Wage for equal work

iii. Universal Social Security,

iv. Universal Food Security,v. A Safe and secure workplace

Affiliates of the NTUI organising women workersjoined this call enthusiastically across the country.

A Mahila Nirdhar Mela was jointly organised byMaharashtra Rajya Anganwadi Karamchari Sangh,Maharashtra Mahila Parishad, NTUI, Rajsatta Andolan

and Paryavekshika Karamchari Sangh in Azad Maidanin Mumbai. Thousands of women workers mainlyanganwadi workers and domestic workers joined the

public meeting. Ms. Varshatai Gaikwad, Minister ofWomen and Child Development, Government of

Maharashtra was the chief guest in the programme. The

SPECIAL REPORT

reducing the allocation government has signaled that it

is not the governments task to foster job creation.Further, the allocation for National Rural LivelihoodMission signals that promotion of self-employmentfor the desperately poor is the governments answer

for an inclusive growth strategy.

Government expenditure on health and education, ifdeflated for inflation, has remained virtually frozen.

There are no additional provisions for workers socialsecurity. For a government that expresses commitmentto building a knowledge economy the core nutrition

programmes of ICDS and the mid-day meal remainunder funded. The budgetary support for the current,and woefully inadequate, National Food Security Bill

before parliament is also underfunded. Hence, theknowledge economy is for the few, while hunger,

malnutrition and ill-health must be the case for themany.

The real meddling of course is in the governmentsefforts to prime the stock market. The lowering of the

Securitises Transaction Tax is unwarranted. And theadditional personal income tax-break up to Rs. 50,000in the stock market investment is bait to middle-

income households to indulge in speculation, andsupplant volatile foreign portfolio investment. Thisattempt to draw small investors into the stock market

comes at a time when only household savings appearto be sustaining while rates of growth of both privatecorporate and government savings are decliningrapidly is insidious.

The Finance Minister places paramount emphasis oneconomic revival through domestic demand drivengrowth recovery. Cutbacks in income support and

social security expenditure, increases in indirect taxesand subsidy-fed private investment cannot boost

effective demand and will contribute to declining jobcreation and therefore impose an additional downwardpressure on wages. Persistent inflation will continue tosqueeze the share of wages and further erode real

wages. We are left today with a tired governmentpromoting a growth model in ruin and politicallycornered, choosing the easy way out of squeezing the

middle and working class in the name of fiscal caution.


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meeting was addressed by Comrades M A Patil andMangala Saraf from Maharashtra Rajya Anganwadi

Karamchari Sangh, Ashim Roy, General Secretary,NTUI, Bharti Sharma from Maharashtra Mahila

Parishad, Jyoti Mahapeskar from Stree MuktiSanghatana and Archana Pale from Rationing Kruti

Samity. The key demands that were raised in themeeting were that of Recognition of Anganwadi and

ASHA workers as workers; Formulation of a pensionscheme for all workers including domestic workers and

other informal women workers; universal PDS with allessential items being included under the scheme with

representation of local citizens in PDS VigilanceCommittees. Issues of equal ownership rights in

property was also raised along with the issue of 33%reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the State

Assembly. Demand for the introduction of the ladlischeme was also made.

TheGarment and Textile Workers Union (GATWU) leda rally of over a thousand garment workers fromMakkala Koota to Banappa Park and held a public

meeting in Bangalore. Guests present at the meeting

were Ms. Shobha Karnadlaje, Minister for Power, Foodand Civil Supplies, Government of Karnataka, former

minister Ms. B T Lalita Nayak, Senior artist and formerPresident of the Karnataka Film Chambers of

Commerce, Ms. Jayamala and Com. Michael Fernandesfrom HMKP. Com. Ashim Roy, President ofGAT WU and General Secretary NTUI in his address

presented the demand of the workers for a Committee toensure payment of minimum wages; a fixation of the

daily minimum wage at Rs.300; provision of crches atworkplaces. He stressed on the need for an end to

harassment, including sexual, of women in theworkplace.

Over 200 local leaders of various branches from

Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts of thePenn Thozhilalargal Sangam (PTS) met at the Areva

Hall at Pallavaram, in the suburb of Chennai for a daylong meeting to discuss the unions activities andcampaigns as well as to plan for the future on 8 March.

Com. R Sumathi, General Secretary, PTS recalling paststruggles of the PTS and its campaign for recognition of

domestic work and minimum wages for the workers,called on the district leaders to expand and consolidateits membership. Leaders from branch units responded to

the General Secretarys report. One of the mostimportant issues that was raised by them was the need

for the union to build a campaign to resist eviction andthe right to tenureship.

Com. M Subbu, Treasurer, NTUI, speaking at theoccasion said that there continues to be a lack of respect

and recognition for womens work. Wages are muchlower in industries largely employing women. The stayorder on the minimum wages for the garment industryfor more than 7 years is an apt example. He said that

any struggle for social security and rights can besuccessful only if womens work is recognised and

valued. The meeting concluded with a performance ofTamil folk songs and dances by the Penn Thozhilalargal

Sangam Cultural Team led by Com. Dhanalakshmi. Itincluded a short play on challenges faced by young

women in garment factories and how a union can helpsolve issues at the workplace.

The Binodini Shramik Union celebrated InternationalSex Workers Day and International Women WorkersDay with a rally of over thousand sex workers on 3

March in Kolkata to demand legalisation of their work.On 29 December 1999, Binodini Sramik Union had

applied for registration under the TU Act. Five yearslater the Registrar of Trade Union sought clarificationswhich too were submitted. On 22 December 2011,Binodini Shramik Union lodged a writ petition in theCalcutta High Court under Article 226 of Indian

Constitution. The High Court has ordered the R egistrarof Trade Union to communicate immediately but no

reply has yet been received by the union.

The union is also demanding recognition of theirmembers in government records.

In Gurgaon, Women's Day celebration was organisedby Nari Shakti, the womens group that works closelywith the Garment and Allied Workers Union on 12

March. About 70 participants discussed the history ofthe International Working Womens Day, and theimportance of celebrating it and organising womenworkers.

TheKaimur Kshetra Mahila Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh


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Samiti along with Unorganized Shram Shakti (Unnao),Domestic Workers Union (Lucknow), Mahila

Samakhaya (Sitapur), Women Forest Rights ActionCommittee, Tharu Adivasi Kisan Mahila Manch

together celebrated Women's Day in memory ofSavitribai Phule in Lucknow on 22 March 2012. More

than 3000 women from states of Uttarakhand, MadhyaPradesh and Uttar Pradesh participated in the

programme. The women marched from different partsof the city and then converged to a public meeting in

Jhulelal Park in Lucknow.

A Charter of Demands was presented to the AssistantCity Magistrate by the participants calling for Controlof women over natural resources and Effective and

complete implementation of Forest Rights Act; an Endof all forms of violence against women, with separatewomen police stations to be established in the states;immediate legislation for domestic workers; a stop to

Illegal mining in Sonbhadra, Mirzapur andShankargarh.

Condolence Meeting for Comrade Iqbal SinghTanda: Jallandhar, 18 February 2012: A condolencemeeting was organized by the NTUI State Committee -Punjab and Chandigrah at Jalandhar on 18 February to

pay tribute to Com. Iqbal Singh Tanda who passedaway on 18 January 2012. Over three hundred activistsof NTUI participated in this meeting. Rich tributes were

paid to the departed leader, who played a pivotal role inthe formation and consolidation of the NTUI and theMulazim Manch in Punjab and Chandigarh.

Comrades Didar Singh, Germanjit Singh, SukhdevSingh, Harinder Dosanj, Gurdip Singh addressed the

meeting. The PSIEC Staff Association, with whichComrade Singh was associated very closely, along withother unions handed over a sum of Rs. 1 lakh to hisfamily.

Asom Majuri Shramik Union launches 100-hrstrike: 1 March 2012, Jorhat: The Asom Majuri

Shramik Union and the Bagicha Shramik Sanstha alongwith other organisations launched a 100-hour hunger

strike in front of the Jorhat DCs office on 29 Februarydemanding increase in wage of workers working under

the MNREGA and in tea plantations.

Asom Majuri Shramik Union president Bipin Lahonsaid that At a time when tea plantation workers in

West Bengal earn Rs 85 to be revised in April to Rs 90,Tamil Nadu Rs 128.25 and Kerala Rs 124 per day, tea

plantation workers in the Barak valley earn only Rs55.50 and in the Brahmaputra valley earn Rs. 66.50 inAssam. The union is demanding an increase in thewage to Rs 167 given the increasing cost of living. The

union also demanding provision of variable dearnessallowance (VDA) to tea workers. The union has also

been demanding the right of all registered unions in thetea industry to participate in the industry-wide wage

negotiation.

On 1 March, the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha(ACMS), affiliated to the INTUC, entered into a 3-year

wage agreement with the planters associations andagreed to a revised wage of Rs 84 in the period between1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012, Rs 89 in theperiod between 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013,

and Rs 94 for the period between 1 January 2014 and 31December 2014. An attendance incentive was also

added to the wage package.The arrear wages from 1January 2012 to 29 February 2012 will be paid by 30

June 2012.

The Asom Majuri Sramik Union organised several

protests and burnt this agreement calling it a farce.According to the union, at a time when the tea industryis making profits, an attendance incentive of Re 1 perweek is absurd. The state government has also deprived

the tea workers of the benefits of the MGNREGA asworkers require a no objection certificate from theplantation management to seek work under theMGNREGA. This practice compounded by the abysmal

wages is perpetrating conditions of forced labour in thetea plantations of Assam, according to the union.

AFFILIATE NEWS


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Forest workers protest against illegal mining inSonbhadra:Lucknow, 4 March, 2012: Thousands offorest workers took to streets in Sonbhadra on 4 Marchto protest against the illegal mining in the district. The

immediate cause of the protest was the recent miningaccident which left over 12 workers dead. The protest

jointly organised by the National Forum of ForestPeople and Forest Workers (NFFPFW) , Kaimur Kshetra

Mahila Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and othersmarched to the local police station and gheraoed

it. They also handed over a memorandum addressed tothe Governor to the district administration demanding a

CBI inquiry into the illegal mining in the district, actionagainst local forest and mining officia ls as well as

labour and revenue department personnel.

On 27 February, over a dozen workers were buried alivein a landslide following a blast in a mine. The workersin the mine claim that the blast was carried out byuntrained staff. They said that the workers were from

the nearby villages who were forced to work in themines because they are not getting employment under

MNREGA.

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has alsotaken cognizance of illegal mining and accidents in

Sonbhadra.

Wastepickers union protests against Waste-to-Energy incinerator in Ghazipur: Delhi, 24 March,2012: Over a hundred workers gathered for a citizenshearing on the proposed Waste-to-Energy incinerator at

Ghazipur, Delhi organized by the All India Kabadi

Mazdoor Mahasangh (AIKMM) along with theresidents in that area. The union and the residents are

demanding an immediate stop to the project. Locatingan incinerator in Ghazipur in order to burn Delhiswaste is an environmental crimesaid Shashi BhushanPandit of the AIKMM.

Waste incineration systems produce pollutants, which

are detrimental to health and the environment. It isexpensive and does not eliminate or adequately controlthe toxic emissions from todays chemically complex

municipal discards. In addition, Waste-to-Energy

incinerators will severely impact the informal recyclingsector which is currently known to divert significant

quantities of recyclable materials from municipal waste.In Delhi, more than 100,000 wastepickers earn a

livelihood from waste.

Incinerators cost cities and municipalities more and

provides fewer jobs than comprehensive recycling andcomposting. They prohibit the development of localrecycling-based businesses. The need is for a justtransition by inclusion of wastepickers in formal wastemanagement like door-to-door collection which will

ensure better segregation at source and hence end thecity dependence on large centralized facilities. Comrade

Ashim Roy was present at the meeting.

CAMPAIGN ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND

HEALTHRajasthan workers seek results of asbestosis check-up: 31 March 2012, Ahmedabad: Over 50 members ofthe Rajasthan State Mine Labour Union held a sit- in-protest in front of National Institute of OccupationalHealth (NIOH) office in Ahmedabad demanding reportsof the health check-up conducted by NIOH in 2005 to

detect incidence of asbestosis, a deadly lung disease.The workers and their families have not been able to getfree medical treatment and claim compensations fordeaths due to lung diseases. Until now, 20 of the

workers have died, but none of them have been able toclaim compensations because of the absence of the

reports.

According to a Supreme Court order, mine workerssuffering from asbestosis are entitled to free medicaltreatment and compensation of Rs 1 Lakh on death.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST DISPLACEMENT

Singur to Nonadanga the Eviction continues: Thebrutal face of state repression that come alongside the

present process of development in India was onceagain exposed when the Trinamool Congress-led West

Bengal government with its large police force alongwith the Kolkata Municipal Development Authority

CAMPAIGN NEWS


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(KMDA) bulldozed and burnt the houses of 800 slum-dwellers in Nonadanga, near Eastern Metropolitan

Bypass in South Kolkata on 30th March 2012 in thename of beautification. Residents who tried to resist

were beaten up, and put into police vans. Theyorganized a protest march the next day which was met

with police lathi-charge. Earlier on 24 March about4000 hawkers and 3000 slums were evicted along the

EM Bypass between the Science City and Dhalai bridgewithout any proper legal notice using huge police force,

corporation officials and bulldozers. When hawkers ofPatuli market and activists of Hawker Sangram

Committee and National Hawker Federation peacefullyprotested against this unjust action police, 41 hawkers

and activists were arrested on various chargesamounting to criminal offence.

This is the area that was chosen in 2007 as one of theBasic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) resettlement sitesfor slum-dwellers who had been evicted from different

parts of the city for implementing the projects ofJNNURM. The resettlement project in Nonadanga has

been of?cially and jointly run by the KMDA and theKolkata Environmental Improvement Project (KEIP),the latter being the owner of the land. The influx of

people into Nonadanga has risen since 2009-10 after thesuper cyclone Aila struck south Bengal and left thevillages ruined and cultivation impossible. Aneighbourhood was born barely a year ago, named

Majdoor Colony.

As real estate prices have risen in this area withimmense possibility for commercial expansion, the

rehabilitated residents of this area are being declaredillegal encroachers

CAMPAIGN ON CLIMATE JUSTICE

National Green Tribunal scraps clearance to Posco:New Delhi, 30 March 2012: Korean steelmaker Poscosbid to build a 12 million tonne integrated steel complex

in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa received a major jolt todayafter a two-judge bench of the National Green Tribunal

suspended the environment clearance granted to theproject in January 2011.

The tribunal pointed out that memorandum of

understanding between the Orissa government andPosco states the project is for production 12 million

tonnes of steel per annum (MTPA) but the environmentimpact assessment report has been prepared only for 4

MTPA steel production in the first phase and not theentire 12 million tonne per annum for which

environment clearance was granted.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest had grantedenvironmental clearance to the project in 2007.

However, it was re-appraised in 2010-11 by theministrys Expert Appraisal Committee after the Meena

Gupta Committee appointed by MoEF to inquire intothe clearances given to the project found glaring

shortcomings in the earlier clearances. But overrulingthe panel, the then environment minister Jairam Ramesh

had issued the final order granting environmentalclearance to the project with additional conditions in

January 2011.CAMPAIGN ON RIGHT TO FOOD AND WORK

State level Consultation on National Food SecurityBill 2011 in West Bengal: 16 March 2012, Kolkata: Several mass organisations and civil society groups

from the state met in Kolkata to discuss the issue offood security as proposed in the National Food SecurityBill, 2011. The discussion focussed on the issuesuniversalisation of PDS; production, procurement andstorage of food; and a grievance r edressal mechanism

that would ensure effective and immediate localrederessal. Participants shared their experience with

legal entitlements, vigilance and grievance redressal inthe public distribution system. Among those presentwere representatives of the Asanghatit Khetra Shramik

Sangrami Manch, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity,Hosiery Workers Unity Centre, Hawkers SangramCommittee, Binodini Shramik Union, Jana Swasthya

Adhikar Raksha Samity, Paschim Banga Jeevan JeevikaSuraksha Manch, Shramajivi Samanvay Committee and

West Bengal Government Employees Union -Nabaparjay.

NREGS wages revised: 27 March 2012, New Delhi: The government on Monday revised upward the wages

under the UPAs flagship National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (NREGS) in the range of less than 1per cent to 24 per cent for the next fiscal. The revised

wages will come into effect from 1 April 2012. Thewage revision comes as part of the governmentsdecision to adjust the wages according to the consumer

price index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL). This isthe first such revision after this new mechanism came

into force in January 2011.

According to the revised structure, the maximum wages

will be applicable in Haryana (Rs 191 for a day) whilethe lowest will be in Bihar and Jharkhand (Rs 122). Thestates that witnessed maximum hike are Andhra Pradesh(hike of Rs 16), Kerala (Rs 14), Maharashtra (Rs 18),

Manipur (Rs 18), Rajasthan (Rs 14). Orissa (Re 1),Bihar (Rs 2), Jharkhand (Rs 2) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 5)are among the states that have witnessed the lowesthikes. The revision grants a maximum hike of Rs 30 (24

per cent) for Karnataka, taking its NREGS wages to Rs155 as against the prevailing Rs 125. This is more thanthe agricultural minimum wages (Rs 145.58) in the

state.

NEWS UPDATES


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Sexual harassment bill to cover domestic help:NewDelhi, March 18, 2012: In a move that will benefit

about 47.5 lakh women registered as domestic workersin India, the Women and Child Development Ministry

has decided to include them under the Protection ofWomen against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill,

2010.According to Ministry officials, inclusion of domesticworkers will allow them access to an efficient redressalmechanism as mandated under the bill, which presentlythey do not have. The bill mandates setting up of Local

Complaints Committee at district level where a victimof sexual harassment can lodge complaint. It will then

be the committees responsibility to look into thecomplaints and take action.

US apparel brand forced to commit $1 million forfire safety in Bangladesh: 21 March, 2012:Two yearsof relentless struggle, campaign and negotiation led bythe garment workers unions and international labour

rights organisations has forced Phillips-Van HeusenCorporation (PVH), to agree to a legally-binding,enforceable, and fire and building safety programme inBangladesh. PVH entered into a Joint Memorandum of

Understanding with a group of 7 Bangladeshi tradeunions, the International Textile, Garment and LeatherWorkers Federation (ITGLWF) and a group of

international labour rights campaign and monitoringorganizations consisting of Clean Clothes Campaign,Worker Rights Consortium, International Labor Rights

Forum, and Maquila Solidarity Network.

Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH), owns andmarkets the iconic Calvin Klein, Van Heusen,ARROW,and Tommy Hilfiger brands worldwide, was one of thegroup of US brands and retailers sourcing from the

That's It Sportswearfactory when a fire in December2010 killed 29 workers and injured a number of others

at a factory in Ashulia, Savar, in Dhaka district,belonging to the Hameem group. The other sourcingcompanies at that time were J C Penney, VFCorporation, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Carters, Kohls

and Target.

The agreement recognises the need for the Bangladeshigovernment, the Bangladeshi Ready-Made Garment

(RMG) industry, brand owners and retailers, andworkers to work together to create a safe and

sustainable work environment within the BangladeshiRMG industry. The agreement establishes a two-yearprogramme to be led by a multi-stakeholder task force

for the purposes of establishing an in-factory trainingprogramme with trade union participation; facilitatingthe creation of factory health and safety committees;reviewing existing building regulations and

enforcement; developing a worker complaint processand mechanism for workers to report health and safety

risks; and advising a Chief Inspector.

Automobile giant BMW offers workers a 6% payrise at the cost of their tea break: 27 March 2012:BMW, the German automobile giant, famed for its

success with the Mini, has offered a pay rise of 6% to1,800 workers at the plant in Cowley, Oxford (UK) atthe cost of a shorter tea break. The proposal is to cutthe tea breaks by 11 minutes per day. Time away fromthe assembly line would be reduced to just 42 minutes

in an 11-hour shift, plus an unpaid lunch break. BMWworkers in Germany get 50 minutes every 8hours. And

a third of this pay hike will be conditional on the plantmeeting end-of-year targets.

23 March 2012

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Employment practices of Mahindra and Mahindrain Ssangyong Motors

We are writing to you in advance of your visit to SouthKorea, to draw your attention to the employment

practices of the Indian automobile manufacturerMahindra and Mahindra that acquired majority stake of

Ssangyong Motors in 2011.

In January 2009, Ssangyong Motors had filed for courtreceivership and came up with a retrenchment plan as a

solution to bankruptcy. The retrenchment plan wouldlay-off 2646 workers. Over a thousand workers rejected

this plan and went on a sit-in strike at the Pyeongtaekplant. Even though the largest creditor was thegovernment owned Sanup Bank, the government madeno effort to bail out the workers. Instead the

Government unleashed its riot police on the strikingworkers, severely injuring several workers. The Korean

Metal Workers Union (KMWU) representing theSssangyong workers was forced into an unfair

agreement on retrenchment. One year later, the KoreanConfederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) conducted a

survey among the laid-off workers of Ssangyong, whichrevealed that 80% of surveyed workers showedsignificant symptoms of depression requiring

psychological consultation. During the 1,000 days thatfollowed the tragic events, 9 workers died and 12

committed suicide, due to the stress and hardship underwhich the workers are living.

The Ssangyong Motors dispute is a complex and urgent

issue. In the first place, the initial decision of thecompany, publicised on 8 June 2009, was unilateral anddisproportionate, ignoring the alternate proposal made

by the workers union, that included work sharing and

INTERNATIONAL NEWS LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER


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financial support through raising of capital by theunion. T he legitimate opposition to this proposal by

over 1000 workers was met with brutal violence,harassment of workers families and a final reckless and

violent police operation. It is clear that the agreementreached on 6 August 2009, after four days of

uncontrolled police repression in connivance with thecompany, is aforced and unfair agreement. Even this

forced agreement has still not been respected - workershad been put on unpaid leave for a year but they have

not yet been taken back. This shows the complete lackof intent of the management of Ssangyong Motors, now

owned by Mahindra and Mahindra, in arriving at aresolution.

With the acquisition of majority stakes at Ssangyong,

Mahindra is now answerable to Korean law, and istherefore required to dialogue with the Korea MetalWorkers Union (KMWU) Ssangyong Motor Branch,which is the legitimate representative of the affected

workers. It is deplorable that over a year has passedsince the acquisition but Mahindra has not taken steps to

resolve the issue with the union which is demanding adialogue on this critical issue.

The NTUI calls upon you to take initiative to resolve

the problem at Ssangyong Motors, and ensure that theIndian Embassy plays a facilitating role for a direct 3-

way negotiation between Mahindra and Mahindra,Ssangyong Motors, and the KMWU Sssangyong MotorBranch in order to find a fair and durable solution. The

NTUI believes that all dismissed workers, includingthose who were forced to take voluntary retirement

should be immediately reinstated in order to allowSsangyong Motor to restart operations with a regainedrespect from workers within the company, the Korean

and Indian working class and society at large. Surely,you would agree that just as we expect foreign firms to

respect workers rights in India, the Government of Indiahas a role in ensuring that Indian companies do notviolate workers rights on foreign shores.

Sincerely,

Gautam Mody, Secretary, NTUI

Oppose Restrictions on Womens Access to Workand Wage to ensure her Safety: 21 March 2012,

New Delhi: Violent crimes against women are on the

increase. Extended working hours have increased theexposure of women workers to risk. The present

employment scenario has not just forced women toenter into highly insecure employment that involveslong, extending often to over 12 hours of work, but alsoin those that involve night work. The NTUI is shocked

at the reaction of the Haryana government to the twinrape of women workers on 12 and 14 March 2012.

The NTUI condemns the attack by government onrights of working women by restricting work of all

women after 8 pm using an earlier government orderthat made such work subject to special permission from

the Labour Department.Recent estimates suggest that about 30% of Gurgaonsworking population is female with a large majority ofthem forced to choose precarious and dangerousconditions of work given the prevailing employment

condition. Administrative strictures imposingprohibition and conditions on womens working hours

will not address the conditions of violence, threat orabuse under which they not only work but also travel to

and from work. The entire notion of safety of womenis underlined by strong patriarchal norms that determinehow an enforcer of law even interprets law.The NTUI believes that women should have the equal

rights to employment and that the exercis e of suchrights cannot be used against them by the employers and

the government to abdicate responsibilities of providingsafe conditions of work and to enforce the law. Arestriction on access to work only further marginalises

women workers and limits their capacity to earn aliving. Following the rape of a NASSCOM employee atDhaula Kuan, in December 2010, in a meeting betweenthe Gurgaon police and the company it was decided that

safety measures would have to be taken by both theadministration and employers. But this decision was notenforced by government on the employers not has

government made any special efforts for safety ofwomen workers. To the contrary, the Haryanagovernment through the use of its police force is a

willing ally of employers in enforcing industrial peaceby covert and overt attacks on workers and theirstruggles. To ensure safety of women workers,

the NTUI demands that employers,

Ensure that they have a system for reporting allincidents including threats or intimidation andincidents which are work related even if outside of

working hours and the work place.

Maintain a complaint mechanism, including acomplaint committee headed by a woman and half

the members of the committee should be women;

Women should be employed in night shifts only inbatches, of not less than ten or not less than twothirds of the total shift strength;

Provide for food in the workplace and safe

transport for women workers;

Provide for protection of women workers workingat high risk times of day;

In consultation with workers representatives,

adopts safety norms for women workers at theworkplace.

PRESS STATEMENT

Documents

Union Power March 2012