Migrant Realities
Sugar’s Bitter Truth: No Contracts, No Fair Wages, No Healthcare For Migrant Workers As Climate Risks, Accidents Rise
Without medical insurance, without formal documentation as contract workers, with neither the labour contractor nor the sugar factory liable to follow any labour laws in their relationship with them, a rapidly growing number of about 800,000 sugarcane labourers in India's richest state economy are vulnerable to more frequent accidents, climate-related health risks and unforeseen healthcare expenses, work and wages lost to these events.
From Odisha to Kerala, a bus of climate migrants
Over the next two days, the bus travelled 2,000 km from Sahani’s village, Bagapatia in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, to Ernakulam district in Kerala, tracing a long arc between India’s eastern and western coasts. The bi-weekly bus is an outcome of a complex set of forces, which centre around climate change and cyclones, that have pushed the people of Bagapatia away from their homes to workplaces thousands of kilometres away.
News from States
Manipur: Wage Earners Hit Hard, Cry for Early Relief and Rehab Package
Important sections of the civil society and unionised wage earners are sore that although it is almost two weeks since the deep ethnic divide triggered widespread violence in Manipur, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state has not announced a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation package for the victims. Chief Minister Biren Singh has remained silent since May 3; Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah also avoided the conflict amid Karnataka polls.
In a first, Kerala launches welfare fund for workers under employment guarantee scheme
In a first in the country, the Kerala government has launched a welfare fund for Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers in the State. Launching the initiative, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the workers who have completed the age of 60 will be entitled for pension under the fund which will also provide financial assistance for medical treatment, education, marriage, among other benefits.
High rate of doctors quitting govt jobs: Haryana forms panel
Amid the growing trend of specialist doctors quitting government service in Haryana over the past few years, the State government has now set up a three-member committee to “elicit and evaluate” the reasons for the high number of resignations. The committee has sought data on the number of doctors quitting prematurely over the past years to analyse it and look at fixing it.
Chhattisgarh: Thousands of Contract Workers to Take out Rath Yatra Across State for Regularisation
On May 15, a 'Contract Regularisation Rath Yatra' is being organised under the leadership of the Chhattisgarh All Department Contract Employees Federation, which will pass through all 33 districts. In this, all the contract workers of the district will participate after taking one day’s leave. The yatra will continue till June 21. If the government does not accept the demands of the contract workers by then, it will likely face a bigger movement, the federation warned.
Tamil Nadu Temporary Nurses Lose Paid Maternity Leaves
Tamil Nadu nurses recruited temporarily through the Tamil Nadu Medical Recruitment Board (MRB) have lost the hard-won right of paid maternity leave obtained after a 2021 protest. The state health department is recovering money paid to contractual nurses on maternity leave.
Women in the Workforce
Gender discrimination in farms
Growing rural-to-urban migration by men was leading to "feminisation" of the agriculture sector. About 80 per cent of the country’s economically active female population is employed in the farm sector. Women comprise about one-third of the agricultural labour force, and nearly 48 per cent of self-employed farmers. On the whole, the work participation rate for women is 41.8 per cent in rural areas against 35.31 per cent in urban areas.
The women of Kudumbashree: Restaurant owners to bulb makers, how they powered a social movement in Kerala
For 25 years, Kudumbashree's neighbourhood groups have changed the lives of countless women, building what's arguably the largest such collective in the world. Its members involved in a variety of streams, from farming to catering, waste collection to tailoring, running hotels to matrimonial agencies, making street lights to reusable sanitary napkins, engaged in organic farming and agribusiness, crusading against dowry to carrying out rescue operations during floods. It runs 49,200 micro-enterprises.
In the Courts
Calcutta High Court cancels jobs of 36,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal
The Calcutta High Court on Friday struck down the appointments of 36,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal who had cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test in 2014 and were recruited two years later. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that the teachers lacked the mandatory training and that there might have been irregularities in the hiring process.
Bengal Board challenges Calcutta High Court order terminating jobs of 36K teachers
The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) on Monday challenged the Calcutta High Court order which terminated the service of 36,000 primary teachers recruited through Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014. The board has appealed against the order with the HC's division bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar and Justice Supratim Bhatatcharya.
Constable’s lawsuit questions Delhi Police’s unreasonable, long working hours
The eight-year-old lawsuit states that it is not possible for any human being to be on duty for over 36 hours. Now that 30 hearings have taken place over the past eight years in Mitharwal’s case, the High Court has finally ordered the Delhi Police Commissioner to ensure that a specialised committee is formed, if need be, to look into Mitharwal’s suggestions to improve the working conditions of constables.
Employment News
PM Narendra Modi distributes 71,000 job letters before 9th anniversary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked nine years of the day the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on May 16, 2014, by distributing 71,206 appointment letters at a ‘Rozgar Mela’ on Tuesday. With this, the PM has handed out 359,000 appointment letters in five such events since October 22, 2022. In June last year, the PMO tweeted that Modi instructed all departments and ministries to recruit one million people “in a mission mode in the next 18 months” by December 2023.
More than 1,700 newly-inducted health workers to get appointment letters in Gujarat
The Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board had chosen 1,760 youngsters from nearly 41,000 candidates who had appeared for the competitive exam held in June last year, and a final merit list of selected candidates was published in March, the official said. Of the selected candidates, 26 belong to general category, 337 are from Scheduled Castes, 245 from Scheduled Tribes, 884 are from Other Backward Class (OBC) categories, while 268 belong to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, he said.
Election Issues
2023 Karnataka Assembly elections | BJP’s failure to tackle unemployment, poverty hit it hard
Nearly 30% of voters said unemployment was the biggest issue this election compared with just 3% in 2018.
Public Opinion: Joblessness, Poverty Biggest Factors For Voters In Karnataka
Unemployment is the single most important factor for voters in Karnataka, followed by poverty, and a majority believe corruption has increased in the past five years. These are key findings of "Public Opinion", a unique NDTV survey in collaboration with Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), which tries to decode the public mood in Karnataka in the run-up to the May 10 election.
DK Shivakumar Says Unemployment Is Biggest Issue In K'taka In The Run-up Polls
Unemployment and price rises have become big problems. No farmer is happy, no businessman is happy, no trader is happy, said Congress' DK Shivakumar.
Tailpiece
How Pune sanitation workers joined hands to improve each other’s lives
SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling) is India’s first and largest self-owned waste pickers’ cooperative created by Pune Municipal Corporation where roughly 3,700 workers collect garbage from thousands of homes across Pune city every day. Their earnings are flexible but above the minimum wage, and they save the city at least thrice as much in costs to process its 2,200 tonnes of daily waste.
Skilling
UP govt provided jobs to 5.5 lakh youths in last 6 years: Yogi Adityanath
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on May 12 distributed certificates to the students who completed their training in Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Big Data and Coding and Programming from Lucknow University under the Samsung Innovation Campus program.
Labour Laws
Labour reforms need consensus
The implementation of the four labour codes passed by Parliament, which were among the most ambitious and game-changing market reforms planned by the current government, has been stalled. They are unlikely to see the light of the day before the 2024 elections, HT has reported. The stalling of labour codes shows only a House majority is not enough to push through reforms. But there’s no reason for despair as well.
Staffing companies seek rollout of contract labour rules
The Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) has requested that the labour ministry speed up the provisions regarding contract labour under the Code on Occupational Safety and Health and Working Conditions, 2020, to help remove informality in the workforce, improve compliance and ease business processes.
Rajasthan Draft Bill For Gig Workers: Will It Hold Aggregators Accountable?
The Quint spoke to experts and union leaders about the draft bill. While they hailed the move and called it a ‘positive’ step, they raised questions about welfare cess, how aggregators can be made accountable, and whether the move is ‘tokenistic’ in nature.
WorkersConnect Radio
मज़दूर जगत की ख़बरों का बुलेटिन
वर्कर्स कनेक्ट रेडियो! 90वें अंक में सुनें:
- कार्यस्थल पर यौन हिंसा नियंत्रण कानून के पालन के लिए सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने जारी किए दिशा निर्देश
- महाराष्ट्र के परभणी में सीवर की सफाई के दौरान दम घुटने से 5 सफाई कर्मचारियों की मौत
- राजस्थान के पाली में भारी संख्या में जुटीं आशा कर्मचारी रखी परमानेंट नौकरियों की मांग
- चेकोस्लोवाकिया में रिटायरमेंट उम्र में बढ़ोतरी के प्रस्ताव के खिलाफ़ शुरू हुआ मज़दूरों का प्रदर्शन, और
- ब्राज़िल की सर्वोच्च न्यायालय का आदेश बिना यूनियन को विश्वास में लिए कंपनियाँ नहीं कर सकती बड़ी संख्या में मज़दूरों की छंटनी
मज़दूर जगत की ख़बरों का बुलेटिन
- हरियाणा के मानेसर में हिताची कंपनी द्वारा मनमानी बर्खास्तगी के खिलाफ धरने पर बैठे मज़दूर 2. उत्तर प्रदेश के बरेली में फोम बनाने वाली फैक्ट्री में विस्फोट, 4 मज़दूरों की गई जान 3. महाराष्ट्र के पुणे में यूनियन बनाने के कारण विश्वविद्यालय प्रबंधन ने 49 कर्मचारियों को काम से निकाला 4. नाइजीरिया के प्लैटो में सरकार के साथ समझौता वार्ता विफल होने के बाद मज़दूर अनिश्चितकालीन हड़ताल पर, और 5. खराब होती कार्य स्थिति के खिलाफ इटली में कार निर्माता कंपनी स्टेलांटिस के मज़दूरों ने किया काम बंद #हिन्दीसमाचार #workersresources #labournews