DP Singh
Private companies entering into any contract for supply of goods and services sign formal contract with concerned parties. In the usual routine transactions, there are purchase or supply order and payment schedules are pre-determined.
For setting up a factory, it negotiates with land owners for plot and banks and financial institutions for capital. In case the land is taken on lease, the prospective factory-owner hires a lawyer and on his legal advice, enters into a lease agreement with the landlord. There is elaborate paperwork and factoring in all possible scenarios, for instance for dispute or disagreement in future, a voluminous agreement paper is prepared and registered in a court.
Similarly, the entrepreneur or industrialist gets into a legal agreement when he takes loans from banks or financial institutions. In most cases, banks have upper hands in sanctioning loan capital and stringent terms are set for default. Knowing all this, the industrialist signs on the dotted lines.
But what surprises many is that the same industrialist wants all terms in their favour when it comes to labour, the most important factor of production. They do not want to enter into an agreement with labour which is based on the principle of natural justice. In a democratic society and welfare state it is the responsibility of the elected representatives to ensure that no one takes advantage of anyone. Labour being in abundance, there is all the possibilities of industrialists exploiting the situation.
The ongoing migrant worker crisis points to the level of exploitation of people across various industries. So much so that the labourers working in cities are squeezed so much that their longevity drastically comes down. This author has seen many labourers in their 40s and 50s suffering from various diseases after their return to villages and eventually succumbing to them.
In the most part of the 20th century, labourers were used more like slaves in farms and factories. They were cruelly treated by their masters and abandoned the day they seemed unproductive. Decades of exploitation often triggered revolt by the labourers. But with all the might at their disposal, the landlords and industrialists run them over.
In this background, when countries one after another won their independence and tried to establish rule of law, various labour laws were brought to protect the labourers and workers. With changing times, they have been amended. The core of all labour laws is to ensure no one takes undue advantage of a worker’s weak position and protect their dignity. This central idea can never be irrelevant.
But unfortunately, new-age industrialists want this central idea to be thrown out of window. In the garb of “labour law reforms” they want the principle of natural justice to go and they rule their kingdom as per their will. The industry lobby groups which have hundreds of billionaires behind them leave no opportunity to press for diluting labour laws. When a new government comes to power, their chiefs go to greet them with bouquet but the hidden agenda is always bending laws in their favour.
As the nation was going through most difficult times, they found it most opportune time to pursue their agenda. Unfortunately they succeeded. The governments of the day, however, stay exposed and totally naked in the process.
Now, imagine what their demand is as part of their labour reform push. They want no unions to be in place anywhere. If that is so, why the industry associations be there in the first place going by the same principle. They want to fire workers as per their wish. But will they be able to do the same with banks if they even want to pre-pay the loans? They want no labour court but want specialized courts to settle other disputes. The industrialists want no compensation to pay when they fire people but want compensation for government terminating their contract. They want all the profits but want public money when in loss. They want best of both worlds and leave others with nothing.
The whole campaign for labour law reform defies all principles of natural justice. The dilution in law done so far at industrialists’ behest must be undone.
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