Trade unions reject change in labour law

Central trade unions have rejected outright the labour ministry’s recommendations for sweeping changes in labour laws, including those on retrenchment and contract labour. After a meeting on Friday, they said the suggestions only echoed employers’ demands for unfettered rights of hire and fire.

All Left trade unions and the BMS have jointly sent a letter to Labour Secretary K.M. Sahni, pointing out that the proposals made in a Labour Ministry presentation on ‘‘Making Labour Markets Flexible — Suggestions for Consideration’’ before the Standing Committee on Labour violated even the CMP provisions on labour as it had ‘‘cherry picked’’ proposals made by employers while rejecting those made by trade unions.

The unions said while the Labour Ministry spoke of youth and employment generation, it was the government that was reducing employment potential through its liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies. Suggested amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act and the Contract Labour Act, made by the ministry, only expanded the discretion of employers , the unions said.