Livelihoods
Job losses and salary cuts hit Surat diamond hub, distress pushes workers to brink
A SUICIDE helpline launched by the Diamond Workers Union Gujarat (DWUG) has received over 1,600 calls – or more than 50 calls a day – since its launch on July 15. Nearly 75 per cent of the callers are workers who have lost their jobs... Surat Diamond Association president Jagdish Khunt said, “The recession in the diamond industry is due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, Israel-Palestine conflict and a falling demand for polished diamond in the international market.”
As Assam’s Only Wetland Protected Under Global Treaty Deteriorates, Local Fishing Community Faces Loss Of Livelihood
Guwahati: Generations of Golak Das’s family have lived in Keotpara, a village near Deepor Beel, a permanent freshwater wetland occupying just over 4 sq km on the fringe of Guwahati city in Assam. Das belongs to one of the 850 fishing families whose lives are intertwined with the fate of the wetland, increasingly under siege from urbanisation and pollution.
In the Courts
Reinstate illegally-terminated clerk with full benefits from date of termination: Jharkhand HC
Umesh Kumar Singh, a clerk who was terminated from JKRR High School, Dhanbad, over three decades ago, was reinstated with full benefits from the date of termination. The Jharkhand High Court ruled that Singh was illegally terminated, by no fault of his, and therefore, he should be reinstated and paid all dues for all the years that he should have been in service, and that the same should be taken into account for his retirement benefits too.
Women in the Workforce
Footpath camps, crying toddlers, 100m sprints: When 1.11 lakh women apply for 1,257 Mumbai Police constable posts
On a synthetic turf inside the ground, their mothers are competing with 1.11 lakh other women from all over Maharashtra for a mere 1,257 Mumbai Police constable posts that offer a monthly salary of Rs 30,000.
Workplace Maternity Benefits Elude 94% Working Indian Women
New Delhi: India has amongst the most progressive laws on maternity benefits. But a large majority of India’s workforce is engaged in informal work. Further, the law exempts small firms from having to provide these benefits. As a result, 93.5% of women workers in the country cannot access maternity benefits, our analysis of government data shows.
Many working women face 'maternity penalty', finds survey
New Delhi: Working mothers in India Inc pay a maternity penalty on their careers. A sixth of working women were not sure if their job would stay after returning from their maternity break, yet 50% of women did not have a career conversation before going on maternity leave, according to research from Aon Voice of Women study of 24,000 women employees.
Labour Demands
Port workers to go on nation-wide strike from August 28 over pay revision
The members of national coordination committee have announced an indefinite strike across the nation from August 28 demanding immediate settlement of pay revision and allowances. The demand includes pensionary benefits with effect from January 2022 as the last settlement had expired on December 2021. A decision to this effect was taken at the end of the two-day meeting held at V.O.C. Port in Thoothukudi.
Domestic Workers
What’s Saudi Arabia’s New Migrant Domestic Workers Law? How Controversial Is Current Kafala System
Saudi Arabia is set to roll out a new migrant domestic workers (MDWs) law in September to plug the gaps in protection of workers through fixed work hours, leave policies, and persistent exploitation through the Kafala system. There are about six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain), which employ close to 5.5 million migrant domestic workers, and all of them exclude MDWs from labour laws, with only four having passed specific domestic worker laws.
IT Workers
CEO pay in IT zooms... at times over 1,000 times median salary
The gap between CEO and employee pay in IT companies has widened over five years, with only IBM showing a decrease. Accenture, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL have experienced a widening of this gap, reflecting the sharp increase in CEO compensation and particularly the value of their stock grants.
Cisco to lay off thousands of employees in second job cut this year, shifts focus to cybersecurity and AI: Report
“The number of people affected could be similar to or slightly higher than the 4,000 employees Cisco laid off in February, and will likely be announced as early as Wednesday with the company's fourth-quarter results,” said the report citing sources.
Employment News
Global youth unemployment hits 15-year low, says United Nations .
The United Nations reported that global youth unemployment in 2023 hit its lowest level in 15 years. However, disparities remain, as youth in many regions have not experienced the same recovery. The NEET rate is notably high, with many young women affected, raising concerns about job security and informal employment.
Endangered Workers
RG Kar rape and murder: It took a doctor to die to tell us what we already know. Everything is broken
The man who has been arrested, via electronic footprints, is said to be a civic volunteer, a member of this over one lakh-strong band of do-gooders being put together since 2013 under the aegis of the state government. Initially, they were deployed as traffic wardens during festivals. Over the years, this army of youngsters has been co-opted by the police who use them liberally, to collect legitimate fines and illegitimate bribes.
Child Labour News
Textile industry, ILO tie up for best labour standards in cotton farms
With cotton still figuring in the list of commodities that are produced using practices such as child labour, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has entered into an understanding with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to create awareness, share technical know-how and knowledge about best labour standards. These standards... will be tried on a pilot basis in major cotton-growing districts of Madhya Pradesh for one year starting in 2024.
The Coaching Industry
248 coaching centres violating building rules in Delhi, 128 sealed: MCD
According to the action taken report of the civic body, over 56% of violators did not even have sanctioned building plans
Coaching: A masterclass in minting money, blame on centralised entrance tests promoted by NEP
In 2023-24, the coaching industry made business worth ₹30,653 crore, marking a 149 per cent or nearly 2.5-fold jump. This means that what the students are spending on coaching is nearly two-thirds of what the government has allocated — ₹47,620 crore — for higher education in the budget for 2024-25
Unused Welfare Funds
Kerala Only State to Fully Use Labour Cess Funds; Overall Use of Funds by States/UTs Low
Out of Rs1.12 lakh crore collected under labour welfare cess, little more than Rs 64,000 crores have been expended by the states/UTs. Collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 (hereinafter BOCW Act), the labour cess funds form an important resource for the welfare of building and construction workers, with appropriate state welfare board(s) created under the Act for its proper utilisation.