BENGALURU: Workers from across Karnataka gathered at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Thursday, demanding the withdrawal of four recently enforced Labour Codes, abolition of the contract labour system and notification of a minimum wage of Rs 42,000. The state-level protest was organised by the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU).
Addressing the gathering, AICCTU national vice-president Clifton D’Rozario said the sudden enforcement of the Code on Wages, Code on Social Security, Industrial Relations Code and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, without consultation, was a “massive blow” to workers. He alleged the Codes would reduce wages, erode social security, curtail the right to unionise and strengthen the contract labour system.
D’Rozario criticised the Centre for “placing employers above workers” and said the new laws force labourers to “live like slaves”. He demanded the eradication of contract labour, citing the plight of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited workers and ITI employees who were terminated for demanding their rights. Considering rising living costs, he said a minimum wage of Rs 42,000 was essential for dignity.
AICCTU State President PP Appanna said claims of increased wages under the Code on Wages were “misleading”, arguing that floor wages would reduce current minimum wages from Rs 27,613 to Rs 19,154. “The claim that social security for workers has been increased is also a pure lie. For gig and unorganised workers, there is only ‘registration’; the Codes do not provide PF, ESI, insurance, or other mandatory rights. This divides workers into two classes -- those with rights and those without -- and subjects them to injustice,” he alleged.