WEAKENING OF TRADE UNIONS WILL NOT BE IN NATIONAL INTEREST
Dr. Gyan Pathak
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2021-08-31 09:58
There had been a wide range of unresolved labour-related issues in India even before COVID-19 struck the country, which has further been exacerbated by lockdowns and containment measures. Workers in both the formal and informal economy were by and large left on their own, and they found themselves in such a miserable condition that they were not able to promote and protect their interests on their own. Already weakening trade unions further weakened during the pandemic. Modi government at the Centre has perceived it to be an opportunity for labour and economic reform and begun a series of measures, beginning from demonetization of November 2019 to the latest remonetization of the public sector with enactment of four labour codes in between, purportedly in the ‘national interest’ under which workers feel that their interests are being guillotined.