The labour unrest in Noida which erupted in violent protests and damage to public and private property has brought to the fore the failure of business and industrial enterprises to provide a living wage to their workers. In fact, the facts provided by those protesting reveal that wages are not even at the subsistence level. As such, it is little more than wage slavery that does not provide workers any kind of a future considered acceptable in the present day world. Even the minimum wages under the law are mostly outdated or just exist on paper. This reality was recognised by the UP Government immediately after the protests and an immediate interim wage hike of 21 percent was declared to provide some relief to the workers.
Making matters worse are the working conditions that require mandatory 12-hour shifts, when the standard is an 8-hour workday. The legally required double pay for overtime is rarely provided. Workers have also cited issues such as irregular salary payments, a lack of medical cover, and poor workplace safety. With all the ‘progress’ made by India’s economy, this situation reveals how much of the industrial sector exists in the nineteenth century regarding basic worker rights.
Those running these businesses may claim that the profit margins are low and raising wages and implementing other welfare measures would result in losses and lead to ultimate shutdowns. It most cases the fact is that business owners are complacent about increasing productivity through innovation, better management, modernising factory equipment and hiring more skilled managers, etc. This is because the profit, even if it is low, has been coming in without much effort in the present conditions, particularly in established industries. This is one of the reasons why the Indian corporate sector has failed largely to compete in the international markets, with latecomers like China taking over. In fact, the government has to pour in taxpayers’ money to implement protective tariffs that further the complacent approach of industries.
It may be noted that good wages are being earned in mostly new age enterprises such as the IT sector. The start-up culture has encouraged the better skilled personnel to themselves become entrepreneurs. Despite all this, the government should enforce labour laws in all sectors of the economy so that everybody gets a fair slice of the cake. If it makes an industry unsustainable, so be it – there are others who will pick up the slack. Exploitative practices no longer should have any place in present day India.
