Dear Friends,

Thank you for your support to the 21st October, 2008 Rally to the Parliament to submit the Memorandum to the Prime Minister, signed by over one lakh Unorganised Sector Workers from different parts of the country. On the occasion of this Rally four separate meetings were also organized, to discuss the issues of organizations working with Domestic Workers, Unorganised Sector Workers, Construction Workers and Independent Trade Unions of Unorganised Sector Workers.    
In this circular we focus on the Unorganised Sector Workers  because on 23rd October, 2008 the Rajya Sabha passed The Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Bill 2007 with about 34 ‘cosmetic amendments’, moved by the Labour Minister Shri Oscar Fernandes and rejecting  all the amendments moved Shri Tapan K. Sen by the division 28:34 votes. i.e. against govt. Bill and amendments 28 vote and for govt. Bill and amendments 34 vote.  It  is shocking that only 62 members or 25% members of the Rajya Sabha were present when it  passed the bill which will directly affect the Social Security i.e. regulation of employment, children’s education, maternity benefits, health care, pension etc of over 40 crore Unorganised Sector Workers and their family members. The Bill was discussed during two sittings of two hours each, with diversions on the Railway Bill. The following eleven members of the Rajya Sabha spoke on the Bill: (1) Shri Rudra Narayan Pany of BJP from Orissa (2) Shri G. Sanjeeva Reddy of Indian National Congress from Andhra Pradesh (3) Shri K. Chandran Pillai of CPI-M from Kerala (4) Dr. K. Malaisamy of AIADMK from Tamil Nadu (5) Dr. Janardhan Waghmare of National Congress Party from Maharashtra (6) Prof. Arjun Kumar Sengupta (Chairman NCEUS) of West Bengal, (7) Shri Su. Thirunavukkarasar of BJP from Madhya Pradesh (8) Shri Tapan Kumar Sen of CPI-M from West Bengal (9) Shri R.C. Singh of CPI from West Bengal (10) Shri Bharatkumar Raut of Shiv Sena from Maharashtra and (11) Shri Abani Roy of RSP from West Bengal.  We will shortly circulate a summary of these interventions and the amendments presented by the Labour Minister and Shri Tapan Kumar Sen.

1. “An appropriate body with sufficient number of officials be also constituted at the National and the State levels to execute the schemes framed for the Unorganized Workers. (Para-39)
2. Separate Legislations for Agricultural Workers & Conditions of Services/ Regulation of Employment of Workers of the Unorganized Sector(Para-40)
3. Any social security measure meant for the unorganized workers will be incomplete without regulation of their employment and the conditions of their services. Virtually, every group that appeared before the Committee or submitted memoranda containing their viewpoints emphasized the need for these steps as being the corner-stone for any meaningful welfare of the unorganized workers.  (Para-41).  The changes can be termed as ‘cosmetic’ because the only alterations are in nomenclature: from the Name of the Bill and various sections and sub-sections the word ‘sector’ has been deleted; from the Central and State Boards the word ‘Advisory’ has been deleted; instead of labour department and tripartite mechanism, the Workers Facilitation Centers Under District Administration are provided for performing various functions. Trade Unions have been deliberately kept out of the registration process – a move to completely wipe out Trade Unions from the Unorganised Sector. An APL/BPL divide has been created in the Unorganised Sector Workers to finish the workers’ Movement. The demand of registration of workers in the Welfare Board through Trade Union has been deliberately omitted to create bureaucratic control which in turn will mean corruption in the registration system and . Confining benefits only to the BPL workers is a denial of basic labour and human rights. Unorganised Sector Workers should not be viewed as indigent ‘beneficiaries’ of government largesse but acknowledged as productive workers who contribute 65% of the country’s GDP. Adequate financial provision must be made for their social security by allocating at least 3% of the GDP for it over and above the levy to be collected from various segments of the Unorganised Sector.

We expect all concerned organizations to organize protests at State levels on Dec 10, 2008 which is celebrated as Human Rights Day and is an appropriate day to demand the human rights of Unorganised Sector Workers.

In Delhi we shall organize National dharnas from Dec 11 to 12, 2008.
Expecting cooperation from all segments,
Yours Sincerely

Subhash Bhatnagar   
Resolutions Adopted at The Construction Workers Meeting Called by NCC-CL on 22/10/2008 at Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi

1. Resolve to institute an enquiry by safety experts into the accident at Metro- Construction site on Vikas Marg to investigate the failure of norms under 1996 Act and recommend remedial measures for immediate future.
2. Resolve to organize a Rally on 11th November, 2008 at Jantar Mantar in which leaders of  all political parties will be invited to ensure full implementation of the 1996 Acts in Delhi within a fair time limit, it will include Chief Minister of Delhi Ms. Sheila Dixit and Labour Minister of Delhi Govt. NCT, Shri Mangat Ram Singhal and leaders of main political parties contesting Delhi election.
3. Resolved to call an emergency meeting of the Delhi Board to investigate in the accident, recommend preventive measures, examine the need of compulsory registration on major sites for 2010 games, including the infrastructure.
4. Resolve to collect information from all States on the present status of implementation of the 1996 Acts of Construction Workers and follow up the PIL of NCC-CL at Supreme Court of India.
5. Resolved to investigate into the impact of the Central Cabinet decision to provide funds from Construction Workers Welfare Fund for the constructing of ‘holding areas’ for the temporary accommodation of migrant construction workers.