Impact of Economic Policies on Unorganized Labor in South Asia: Women & Vulnerable Workers, Study notes of Business Administration

Download Impact of Economic Policies on Unorganized Labor in South Asia: Women & Vulnerable Workers and more Study notes Business Administration in PDF only on Docsity! EXPERIENCES IN ORGANISING THE UNORGANISED LABOR The majority of the work force in South Asia is working in the unorganized sectors. The unorganized sector includes the majority of agricultural and rural workers (estimated at about 185 million), construction workers (about 8.5 million), urban informal sector workers, home-based workers, fisheries and forest workers, contract/casual workers, workers in export promotion zones and export- oriented units, workers in small and medium manufacturing units, services, sector, etc. Some of the policies that will directly make life harder for workers (especially in the unorganized sectors) are: 1. Reduction in public expenditure on health services, child care, education, transport and other social services. In order to cut fiscal deficits, governments have actually been spending less than the budgeted amount on all heads under social infrastructure. Real plan outlay for women and child development has also been coming down over the years. 2. Privatization of the economy and growth of ―Labor-Law Free‖ unorganized manufacturing activities in a bid to promote flexibility and competitiveness. 3. Proposed Exit Policy for industries which will mean greater in retrenchment of workers and closures of industrial units, without regard to the worker‘s employment and income interests. 4. Export Promotion Zones/Free Trade Zones (EPZ/FTZs) and encouragement to foreign capital, with a promise of lenient labor laws, if not an outright ―shut eye‖ on labor standards in the country. Foreign investors from some industrialized countries are reported to have demanded such freedom from existing labor laws. 5. Price decontrol and hike in administered prices are already fuelling inflation, leading to declining purchasing powers of wage and salary earners. Combined with reduction in food subsidies and dilution of public distribution systems the impact on food consumption levels is going to be adverse. Clearly, the belts of the population below the poverty line will be tightened even further 4. Provision of social security such as provident fund, medical care, setting up of welfare funds, etc.; 5. Access to Government‘s welfare, employment and anti-poverty schemes; and 6. Right to organize and collective bargaining. It may, however, be noted that the efforts to organize the unorganized have been few and have not proved enough, given the size of the unorganized sector, limited resources of trade unions and absence of the rights of association and collective bargaining in practice. The reluctance of the governments to extend legislative protection to workers in the unorganized sector (such as in agriculture, fisheries, forests, etc., has also made trade unions task difficult. In the organized sector, too, in the name of privatization, sub-contracting of work and employment of unorganized contract, casual labor is on the rise. In the interest of a strong trade union movement, organized sector trade unions must reach our (both in person and through financial aid) to organize the unorganized. This will help in raising the level of minimum labor standards. Women workers are the future of the trade unions. At the moment, they are more or less completely unorganized and unrepresented in the trade unions as are most gender-specific issues. The trade union movement must put into operation a strategy and a work plan to integrate women into the fold of the union and involve them in the decision making process. The Central Trade Unions will have to play a leading and innovative role in assisting upcoming organizations from the unorganized sector and in getting the state to recognize and provide an effective legislative protection of the rights of these workers. In particular, the CTUOs need to press for Implementation of ILO Conventions on freedom of association and protection of right to organize (No. 87), right to collective bargaining (No.98), rural workers organization (No.141), home work(No.177) and social security (Nos.102 & 157). The Employers must be encouraged to observe some of the core ILO conventions and labor standards, irrespective of the nature of employment and the number of employees. Need for Exercising Control Over Deployment of Workers Funds Workers‘ funds such as Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Pension Funds are probably the single largest funds in the country. While it is true that workers‘ representatives sit on the PF Trust Board, this Board does not have any power to determine the Investment pattern of the funds. Workers must have a say in the investment of workers‘ funds including provident and pension funds. The history of management of provident funds shows that workers‘ money is usually a source of cheap finance for the government/ banks without it necessarily being used to give more benefits to workers. Worker’s Participation and the Right to Information To prevent mismanagement of industry/resources, in both public and private sector, it is essential that right to company information (and right to information in general) be given to w\workers and their trade unions. Markets work best when information is freely and easily available. The present system of functioning is shrouded in far too much unnecessary and undesirable secrecy which breeds undesirable tendencies. While collective bargaining will have to be the main plank of democratic industrial relations, trade union should see consultative mechanisms/cooperation schemes/ participative management as a means for increasing workers‘ influence over the decision-making processes and enrichment of job content so as to lead to higher production; productivity and rewards for workers. The concept of labor-management cooperation should be seen as a means of improving employees‘ morale and involvement in the workplace, rather than as