Violations of core labour standards in India - new ITUC Report There remain serious violations of all core labour standards in India, states a new ITUC report, timed to coincide with India's trade policy review at the WTO on 23 and 25 May.
India has still not ratified the ILO's Core Conventions on workers' right to organise and to collective bargaining. Although workers have the legal right to organise, this is subject to restrictions, and in many companies there is a hostile attitude towards trade unions. The report further notes that there has been an increase in the number of Special Economic Zones. Although on paper the workers there have a right to organise and to collective bargaining, in practice entry into the zones is closely restricted which makes organising extremely difficult. To further weaken the position of workers and their trade unions, proposals for amendments of the Contract Labour Act have been made that would increase the number of processes where contract labour is permitted with regard to cleaning, garbage collection, security, maintenance of machinery, house-keeping, information technology, support services, construction, SEZs and units exporting at least 75% of their production. The report further refers to a widening gender wage gap in India due to economic reform and trade liberalisation. Many companies appear to have responded to competitive pressures by maintaining the level of male wages but not those of women employees. To see the full report click here http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/India_report_final.pdf Excerpt from: Trades Union Congress - International Development Matters - International Development Matters May 2007 - Issue 58 _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.isoc-ny.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
