Trade unions, AIPEF members protest against labor codes

A joint platform of members of 10 central trade unions, farmers’ organization Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and power sector engineers’ organization AIPEF on Wednesday (November 26) led a nationwide protest against the four labor codes approved by the government.

In a landmark change in labor laws, the government on Friday (November 21) notified all four labor codes, ushering in major reforms, including universal social security coverage for gig workers, mandatory appointment letters for all employees and statutory minimum wages and timely wages in all sectors.

In a memorandum to President Draupadi Murmu, the Joint Forum said, “These codes deny our right to strike, make union registration problematic, make it easy to de-recognise unions, make the process of conciliation and adjudication cumbersome, close down labor courts and introduce tribunals for workers, remove the power of registrars to de-register unions.”

Speaking to PTI, AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur said protests were held in over 500 districts of the country, in which formal and informal workforce from all sectors and industry participated.

Meanwhile, AIPEF President Shailendra Dubey said lakhs of power sector employees also participated in the protest against the Labor Code and the Electricity Amendment Bill. The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has opposed it, arguing that the Bill proposes multiple distribution licensees to use the existing networks of government discoms.

AIPEF President Shailendra Dubey said, “This bill appears to support the objectives of privatization. The central government is pursuing its privatization agenda through the Electricity (Amendment) Rules.”