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Organising out of decline – The rebuilding of the UK and Ireland shop stewards movement |
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Thursday, 19 July 2007 |
Sharon Graham is a National Organiser and the Director of Organising at the T&G section of Unite.
In this article she presents the case that succesful organising must be built on the cornerstone of a re-empowered shop stewards movement focussed on winning industrially for workers. She explains that the identification of leaders and workers issues is key, and that shop stewards must be brought together by industry, accross national boundaries in order to move the bargaining agenda and stem decline.
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Securing Labour Rights in a Globalising Economy : The Case of India |
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Written by Pravin SINHA
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Monday, 16 July 2007 |
India’s emergence as the 4th largest economy as also a contender for a seat in the UN Security Council is the result of the high pace of economic development that it has achieved in the current phase of liberalisation. In the course of fifteen years, India has come to be acknowledged as the IT hub-centre, supplier of skilled workforce to the world, etc. It has also regained its position as the spokes nation of the developing world. On the other hand, India is poorly placed interms of human development index. The development of social capital is inadequate and worst is its access, as it remains confined to urban areas and to rural elite. For majority of population, more so those who earlier constituted part of the Organised Sector workforce, the emerging conditions can’t be worse. The informalisation of work, skill obsoleteness, absence of any formal social security has left them in a state of desperation.
The direct affect of informalisation has been deterioration in respect for labour rights. The provisions of large number of labour laws remain non-enforced. The adherance to the core labour standards remains good in paper only. The desire to get more FDI and pressure from the MNCs have caused the government to overlook violations. Further the trade unions are divided on political lines. There are however, increased activities among non-mainstream labour organisations, but then they are not influential on the policy-making levels.
The impact of the ongoing globalisation has adversely affected the powers of the membership-based organisations [MBOs], including trade unions to effectively represent the interests of their respective constituencies. The declining size of workforce in the organised sector, with dwindling support from the government against an aggressive employers have further enlarged the size of workforce that is not in receipt of benefits of legislative protection as also of government’s labour welfare policies. Consequently, there is convergence of various MBOs active among the workforce so as to consolidate their power to protect and promote conditions that would realise decent work environment.
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Migrant labour - setting our agenda |
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Written by toby shelley
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
Rights of migrant workers do not come high on the government's agenda. It is left to the labour movement and NGOs to defend them and to address apparent conflicts between the interests of local workers, migrant workers and the general economy.
There are many instances where this is being done with commitment and bravery by union organisers. But here Toby Shelley argues for a broader set of campaigning demands and objectives. This article is shortened and adapted from a chapter in his book 'Exploited: migrant labour in the new global economy', published in August by Zed Books.
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Living in the Ghetto? |
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Written by Martin Wicks
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
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Will Hutton says Council Housing is a 'living tomb'. Martin Wicks begs to differ.
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Unions’ Role in Protecting the Contract Labour : The Case of India |
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Written by Pravin SINHA
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
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The Contract workers, which constitute a large section of workforce, remain more or less ignored by the trade unions. The paper, while examining the case of contract workers in India, looks at the possibilities to bring them under its umbrella.
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