Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Kerala
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Thiruvananthapuram
By Our Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 16. The AITUC and the CITU will oppose the Government's move to declare the IT-related activities in Technoparks in the State as essential services. Even after the scrapping of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) by the Centre, there was no justification in the State Government resorting to such an extreme step, which was undemocratic and anti-labour, according to C. Divakaran, the State general secretary and the all India vice-president of the AITUC. "It is a threat and the labour unions are prepared to meet this challenge," he told The Hindu here today. The industrial sector has been remaining by and large peaceful and if the Government went ahead with provoking the trade unions, the outcome would be unpredictable, he said. There are around two lakh employees in the companies in the Technoparks in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, the CEPZ and the apparel parks of the KINFRA. There is no labour law in force in this sector and this gave the employers an undue advantage, Mr. Divakaran said.
Labour disputes
However, the trade unions had not been raising any labour disputes in this sector over the past few years in the hope that a new work culture would evolve in the State. There is no wage policy, no stipulated working hours and not even statutory benefits available to the employees of the IT-related sector. The employer-employee relationship has not been defined in the labour policy applicable to the companies in the Technoparks. Under the `self certification system' the functioning of the companies in the Technoparks could not be monitored by the Department of Labour, Mr. Divakaran said adding that an Industrial Relation Board should be set up to cover all such firms. P. K. Gurudasan, State general secretary of the CITU, said the proposed move of the Government would result in the denial of the rights of the working class. The very concept that labour laws would not be applicable in the special economic zone was not tenable, he maintained. The companies in such exclusive zones were a law unto themselves. Despite enjoying such benefits as tax concessions and duty cuts, these firms have been resorting to unhealthy trade practices under cover of the self certification system to deny the workers their genuine rights, Mr. Gurudasan alleged. The UPA Government at the Centre had made it very clear that the existing labour laws would not be modified to the disadvantage of the employees and if at all any changes were to be brought about, the trade unions would be consulted on them, he pointed out.
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