More on Development of Labour Laws in India

 

Part-3

The 1930s: 

Infamous economic depression had terrible global impact and, during the period under review, India too witnessed sharp rise in unemployment. Workers in India, however, heightened their agitation against mass dismissal including innumerable strikes. Besides, there was also constant uproar for independence from colonial rule.  In 1929, the British government founded the Royal Commission on Labour in India. The commission faced resistance and large-scale boycott from the Indian labour movement. All India Trade Union Centre (AITUC) strongly criticized the commission as “an open and brutal attack upon the trade union movements by using repressive legislation.”  Nevertheless, the commission concluded its report and, subsequently, the commission’s report made a way for a series of labour legislations between 1932 to 1938. Interestingly, most of these laws revolved around mines regulations and protecting factories.

Trade Dispute (Conciliation) Act, 1934; the Government of India Act, 1935; Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Industrial Dispute Act, 1938 were enacted which gave rise to newer expectations that worker-friendly policies would further be catered. However, the labour legislations were prejudicial and harmful to the interest of the workers. One of the key legislations, the Payment of Wages Act, empowered employers to deduct wages of employees who found to be “absent from work without reasonable cause”.

Between post World War II and independence:

Delusions were soon over with regard to the ‘friendly union’ and ‘labour welfare’ policies under the colonial rule. Policies and regulations faced continuous challenges due to industrial unrest while this phase experienced more and more strike actions by the workers. Bombay Industrial Dispute Act, 1941 empowered the Bombay Government to redress the disputes in relation to the industries and banned all strikes prior to the arbitration. Such limiting legislation was finally ended as Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946.

Other important legislations like the Essential Services Act, 1941 and the Defence of India (Regulations) Act, 1915 were introduced. Most of the provisions of these Acts laid down restrictions against strike and other industrial issues. Even, political and general strikes were also targeted. 

The Trade Dispute Act of 1929 and the Bombay Act of 1934 were threaded with the Trade Disputes Act, 1947 to enable the government agencies to evaluate and settle the disputes arising in employee-employer relation. However, the legislations were more inclined towards controlling labour rather than settling grievances. 

During the period under review, however, the working class achieved some of the very important legislations through constant and consistent struggle. Bombay Industrial disputes Act, 1938 was reformulated as the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 which recognised various unions and provided such unions with right to represent the workers in a particular area or industry. Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 mandated the employers to give the employees transparent terms and conditions of employment.

The Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 was made applicable to the “workmen” in “industries” but actually excluded various categories of “workmen” from the Act.

Post-independence, 1948 onwards:

Labour laws of independent India were influenced by multiple factors: (1) Views expressed by important nationalist leaders during the days of freedom struggle; (2) Debates of the Constituent Assembly; (3) Provisions of the Constitution of India; (4) Important human rights and standards set by the United Nations; (5) Several International Conventions and Recommendations; (6) Recommendations of the various National Committees and Commissions etc.

Independent India called for a clear partnership between labour and capital. In December 1947, a tripartite conference unanimously resolved the base of this partnership. The conference approved that labour would be given a fair wage and working conditions and, in return, capital would enjoy harmonious cooperation of labour ensuring uninterrupted production and higher productivity as a part of the strategy for national economic development.

The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 laid down the basic framework of independent India’s labour laws. The objective of the Act was to secure industrial peace and harmony which was sought to be achieved through mechanism and procedure for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes by conciliation, arbitration and adjudication. However, this Act was made applicable only for the organized sector workers.

In addition to the Industrial Dispute Act of 1947, some of the important labour laws in India are – The Factories Act, 1948; The Minimum Wages Act, 1948; The Employees’ State Insurance Act. 1948; Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970; Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 etc. Besides, there is an entire gamut of labour laws in India. In post-independence period, the Central government and several State governments brought legislations to protect labour rights. Trade union movement played a significant role in mobilizing the government-machineries in favour of the working class.

However, the Central government started slowly diluting the legal provisions which were adopted in favour of the workers. In Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, there was a restriction on the end of the employer to terminate the employment of an employee “as it saw fit”. The amendments of the Industrial Disputes Act in 1953, 1976 and 1982 encouraged the development of new regulations in relations to retrenchments, lay-offs and plant and industry closures.

Consequent to the above discussions, the next article will start decoding the new labour codes in the background of India’s recent economic developments and strategic reforms.

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Development of Labour Laws in India and their purposes

 

Part-2

The history of labour legislation in India can be connected with the chronicle of British colonialism. Significance of British political economy had determined the early labour laws in India in two ways – (i) in order to conserve and protect the interest of British employers and industrialists; (ii) in accessing Indian workers easily to run the British establishments. For example, Factories Act was introduced by the British Parliament in 1883 to curb the intense competition between Indian textile industry and British textile, introduced the Factory Act in 1883. The intent of introducing the Act was to increase the cost of production by upwardly revising the Indian labour cost favouring British textile tycoons from Lancashire and Manchester. Indian labour got a stipulated 8 hours work in a day and overtime wages. Child Labour was abolished and women working at night was restricted. All these benefited the Indian labour market as a whole but the real motivation behind the move was entirely different.

In 1844, thirty-nine years before the Factory Act was introduced in India, Frederick Engels, in his celebrated work ‘Conditions of the Working Class in Manchester and Leeds’ wrote: “……the law is sacred to the bourgeois, for it is his own composition, enacted with his consent and for his own benefit and protection. He knows that, even if an individual law should injure him, the whole fabric protects his interests.” The labour and industrial laws were enacted by British Administration primarily to protect interests of the British monopoly capital.

However, the chronology of developments of labour laws in India can be categorised as: (i) Pre-1920s; (ii) Post-World War-1 and the 1920s; (iii) The 1930s; (iv) Between post World War-II and independence; (v) Post-independence: 1948 onwards and (vi) India’s recent developments and reforms.

Pre-1920s:

The emergence of industrialization steadily shifted the rural labour force towards cities. Mill owners, during those days, used to treat the workers shabbily with very little or even no payment at times. The colonial authorities did not pay much attention towards the misery of workers except enforcement of penal provisions available at that time which were formulated to ensure uninterrupted supply of labour for emerging industries. Most of the British regulations were in relation to discipline the workers compelling “forced labour”.

The Workmen’s Breach of Contract Act, 1859 was a significant legislation and its provisions were used for labour discipline. The Act not only demanded fines in cases of breach of employment contract but also allowed orders for specific performance of service.

From the 1880’s, there was legislative intervention of the government. Most of the legislations were the outcomes of different government enquiries. However, the legislations were not fairly implemented in the working practices by the industries. Therefore, the impacts in favour of workers were very minimal and selective. For example, The Factories Act, 1881.

Post-World War-1 and the 1920s:

During this phase, the political scenario was influenced by several factors which had impacted industrial relation. There was an emergence of a strong nationalist movement. Driven by the ideals of communism, trade unions were also growing rapidly which led to the establishment of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in 1920.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) was formed in 1919, a forum where workers, governments and employers from different countries and member states come together and set carefully scrutinized standards; promote decent work and health conditions for both men and women; develop policies and devise programmes. Since 1922, India has been a permanent member in the governing body of ILO. This has served as a major background for ‘progressive labour legislations’ in the country.

During 1920s, there was an emergence of ‘modern outlook’ with regard to the industrial relations. The protective legislations like Factories Act, 1922; The Mines Act, 1922 and The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 were enacted. The formulation of the Trade Union Act of 1926 and the Trade Dispute Act of 1929 came into being.

The Trade Union Act of 1926 extended legal status for the trade unions and few protections against civil and criminal liabilities, however, unregistered trade unions had no such protection. The Act did not provide any aid to the ‘collective bargaining’ system. No support was provided in the path of industrial dispute. 

The Trade Dispute Act of 1929 put various restrictions on workers’ right to strike. Reference of the industrial dispute to a court of enquiry was made compulsory though the conclusions to the same had no binding upon the parties.

The AITUC criticised both the legislations.

Subsequent articles will discuss the remaining stages of development of the labour laws in India.

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Changes to Labour Laws: Interpreting the Intricacies

Part-1

Introduction:

Amid high pitch election buzz in five state legislative assemblies, there is also a humming sound in the air that the Narendra Modi-led government may implement the four new labour codes with effect from April 1 2020. This will not only bring sweeping changes to the terms of employment for India’s 500 million strong work force; but the very concept of ‘employment’ will also get altered for ever. Across industries, the permanent nature of jobs and employment shall perhaps cease to exist. Covering almost all categories of employees and workers, the four new labour codes will make them more vulnerable towards endless exploitations with no legal safeguards for them. 

Under the pretext of simplifying, rationalizing and consolidating the complex and obscure labour laws of India, the government has introduced four new labour codes. The new plan will subsume 44 central labour laws into four broad codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health & working conditions. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has completed the process of consultation and has finalised rules under the four labour codes. Since labour is a concurrent subject, certain rules would also be framed by the state governments under the four new codes. Several states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have already diluted their labour laws. Ironically, such changes have come during the pandemic-induced economic slump.

On 25 February 2021, the National Herald noted: “Modi government wants to bring dark days for the working class from April 1” by implementing new labour codes and, “dark days are coming back for the Indian working class, with new machines, new production process, new skills and also the corporates nourishing new levels in the evolution of finance capital”.

Changes in the existing labour laws by way of new labour codes will impact both employers and employees in India. So, what are those changes? In the next few days, a series of articles, will explain various implications of new labour codes. The discussion will be initiated with a brief note on the history of development of ‘Law of Employment’ or Labour Laws. 

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