Farm Workers Shortchanged In Fixing Of New Minimum Wages

As per the Kolkata Gazette issued on 27 August 2010 and 22 September 2010, the Government of West Bengal has proposed a new set of minimum wages for workers in 31 trades. Proposals for another 27 trades are under consideration. The lowest amongst these wages is Rs. 127 per day (without food) for so called “unskilled” agricultural workers, while the highest is Rs. 5,614 per month or Rs.215 per day for “highly skilled” drivers and clerks. However, by our calculations (given at the end of the note), using the 15 ILC norms and Supreme Court orders, the minimum wage cannot be less than Rs 248.50 per day for any trade.

This issue was brought up during a recent deputation on 4 February 2011 to the Joint Labour Commissioner in charge of Minimum Wage Fixation. Much to our amazement, he was not able to give the rationale on which minimum wages had been fixed by the State Government. Even more surprisingly he refused to share documents that showed how the Government was calculating minimum wages.

We demand that the Government should make Rs.248.50 the floor level wage (at 2010 prices). No wage less than this should be declared for any trade. Wherever it is found that employers (such as small and marginal farmers, small factory owners or small shop keepers) are not in a position to pay such wages, the Government must provide a wage subsidy for them.

This is also in consonance with the policy of the West Bengal Government. In fact, the Labour Minister Mr Anadi Sahu at the ILC meeting on 23 and 24 Nov 2010 at Delhi “urged the Central Government to declare a floor level minimum wage in all economic activities irrespective of whether such employment is covered in the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act or not.”[1]

The West Bengal Government has been violating the Minimum Wages Act itself in many ways i.e. by paying less than its own declared minimum wage itself to NREGS workers and to contract workers in the Health and PHE Department. For example, NREGS workers were paid Rs.81 during most of 2009, when the agricultural minimum wage (which has to be statutorily paid in NREGS works as per the NREG Act 2005) was Rs.87.50.

The Labour Department has taken very little effort to vacate stay orders on revision of minimum wages brought on by employers’ associations (such as the Brick Field Owners Association) in the Kolkata High Court. As a result, minimum wages in some trades have not been revised for 8-10 years.

Established unions in the presence of Labour Department officials, and with their connivance sign agreements with employer associations accepting less than the minimum wage.

Minimum wage enforcement is practically absent. Even the low and sub-human wages set by the Government of West Bengal are not enforced. The problems are many - inspectors who go to factories, take bribes from owners and return without taking any action; minimum wage inspectors who are becoming fewer in number; minimum wage inspectors who do everything – gathering data for surveys and the Census, correction of the BPL List and voters’ list - except enforcement of minimum wages; assistant labour commissioners who have no enforcement powers; and, a huge decline in cases of punishment for non-payment of minimum wages.

Workers face violent attacks from employers when they demand minimum wages. The administration and police support them in such acts, making it impossible for workers to organize for minimum wages.

The Government of West Bengal has shifted its focus away from minimum wage enforcement. The Labour Department itself had been marginalised, as is clear from the decline in staff in the department and the sorry state of the Joint Labour Commissioner’s office at 6 Church Lane. Within the Department’s functioning, the enforcement of minimum wages is not seen as an important function. Instead, minimum wage inspectors and the other staff of the department are kept occupied in enlisting people for various Government aided lollipops of welfare schemes. Even here the performance is pathetic - in the 10 years since the State Assisted Scheme of Provident Fund for Un-organised Workers (SASPFUW) had been initiated, the JLC informed us that they had enlisted 23 lakhs of unorganised sector workers in West Bengal.  This is less than 8% of the 2.9 crores unorganised sector workers in the state (these are 2004-05 figures and numbers have increased since then).[2] The Joint Labour Commissioner admitted this to us during our discussion with him on 4 February 2011.

 

 In the above circumstances we demand:

• Fixing of a floor-level minimum wage of Rs.248.50 (at 2010 prices), as per the 15^th ILC norms and Supreme Court orders, so that the minimum wage in all trades is above this.
• Provision of a wage subsidy for all small employers who find it economically unfeasible to pay such wages.
• Floor level minimum wages must be paid to NREGS workers, and the Government must not freeze the NREGS real wage at Rs.100.
• Transparency and public debate must precede the fixation of minimum wage, with open access to all documents and calculations by the Government.
• In calculating of minimum wages, each child must be treated as a single unit and the norm of treating two children as one unit must be stopped.
• Wages must be indexed to inflation and revised every 6 months.
• Strict enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act, with sufficient numbers of Minimum Wage Inspectors and exemplary punishment for Labour Department staff who do not enforce the Act.
• Cancellation of employers’ licenses, punishment of employers through jailing, fines etc. in case of violation of Minimum Wages Act.
• Revamping the dispute resolution systems in order to ensure speedy resolution of employer- worker disputes.
• Strict action against employers and their goons who attack workers organizing for minimum wages.   

 Asanghathit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch has based its minimum wage calculations on the universally accepted 15^th Indian Labour Conference norms and Supreme Court orders that state a family unit consists of 2 adults and 2 children; each adult must have a balance diet with 2700 calories per day and each person 18 yards of cloth per year; each family will spend 20% of its wage on fuel, electricity etc. and 25% on health education and entertainment; and each family must be given rent for housing in keeping with Government’s minimum housing allowance . Food requirements per adult as are as follows at current prices. (October 2010)

Item	Quantity (gm)	Calorie (100 gm)	Calorie  value	Cost  per kg	Total cost
Grains (Rice, Wheat)	397	345	1370	18	7.15
Dal	85.2	343	292	55	8.69
Greeneries	113.8	51	58	10	1.13
Potato	85.2	50	43	15	1.28
Other vegetables	85.2	32	27	12	1.02
Fruits	85.2	59	50	50	8.26
Milk	200	67	134	22 (per litre)	8.8
Oil &Ghee	40	900	360	65	2.6
Sugar	56.68	398	226	30	1.7
Fish &Meat	85.2	105	89	120	10.22
Half egg	28.25	173	49	3.5	1.75
Total			2698		40.2

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[1] http://labour.gov.in/lc/43ilc/RecordNoteofDiscussionAmendedbyMOLE.pdf

[2] http://www.nceus.gov.in/Report_Statistical_Issues_Informal_Economy.pdf

The Gaza Convoy Experience: Meeting And Film Show Invitation

The New Trade Union Initiative, of which PBKMS is a part, invites you to share the experience of the Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan at Students Hall, College Square, Kolkata on March 5 at 3 p.m.

A hundred and twenty representatives from 18 countries in Asia travelled 7,000 kilometers from New Delhi to Gaza in Palestine in December 2010 and January 2011 to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza facing a blockade for the past few years.

Their journey took them through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Each day and country provided new experiences on the meaning of democracy, secularism and freedom; on the place of religion in the politics of a country; and on the forms of imperialist intervention in this region.

The meeting will start with a slide show and end with an Oscar award nominated feature film, Paradise Now. It will be addressed by Ashim Roy, General Secretary of NTUI, and Swapan Ganguly from Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity. Santosh Rana will chair the meeting.

This will be followed by a film, Paradise Now. A story of two friends in Palestine (West Bank), selected by their organization to go on a suicide bombing mission to Israel, the movie takes a deep look into the context of the occupation and conflict. Apart from daily hardship of life under occupation, the movie registers many of the existing discourses (for and against) the act of suicide bombing and violence. It also reflects upon the mental dilemma of the main characters in undertaking such a task.

Directed by Hani Abu-asaad (Palestine), the 90-minute long movie was nominated for Oscar in 2006 as the best foreign language movie of the year.

The Smiling Bureaucrat, His 'Hands And Feet Tied'

Once again unorganised sector workers in West Bengal came face to face with an administration that cares little for those at the bottom of the economic rung.

Fifteen unorganised sector worker unions in West Bengal (including PBKMS), had come together to form the Asanghatit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch (Front for the Struggle of Unorganised Sector Workers) in 2010. Their main issue was fixing a just minimum wage and enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act 1948. It was on this issue that about 2,500 of them had gathered in Kolkata, near the office of the Joint Labour Commissioner (JLC) in charge of minimum wages fixation on February 4, 2011. At about 1.30 p.m. a delegation of six of them went to meet the Joint Labour Commissioner. What they saw and heard there was a sorry state of affairs.

The JLC’s office is symbolic of the neglect of minimum wages in the State. It is on the fourth floor of 6 Church Lane. There is no board outside to tell you where the office is. The lifts do not work generally. Any worker who wants to register any kind of protest must first climb up the four storeys. Our delegation had two 70-year-olds and a very sick man suffering from a kidney problem. We panted and worried about them. As we went up gasping, we were informed by the large police force that was escorting us that both the phones of the JLC were also not working, making public contact virtually impossible.

When we finally reached the office, we were greeted by a number of empty desks, piles of dusty files (both a common sight in most West Bengal offices) and the crowning glory of all – a crowd of men in the middle of the room intently playing carom! It was the royal time – the lunch break. The state of the room made us feel the lunch break continued throughout the day.

The JLC’s office itself smelt clammy and uncared for, with electricity wires falling off the wall, huge patches of damp, a cardboard divider that had gaping holes, windows that were broken and rags for curtains.

The JLC, Md Amanul Haque, in charge of the Minimum Wages Directorate of the Labour Department of West Bengal, turned out to be a pleasant man, who smiled even when we spoke about the dire straits of workers who were paid Rs 35-40 for a hard day’s work. We demanded that a floor wage of Rs 248.50 be paid to workers. We showed him calculations of the wages that we had made. He still smiled (in amusement or in helplessness? we wondered), and told us that the West Bengal Government had fixed wages in the agricultural sector at Rs 127 in 2009, which would now be about Rs 150, after adjustment for price rise. He said this was “still under consideration” and would be finalised soon. He agreed that this would be the floor wage for West Bengal as agricultural workers are always paid the lowest.

Mr Haque could not counter our calculations in any way. He insisted that wages had been fixed following the 15th Indian Labour Conference norms, the same norms that we were following, but was unable to explain the discrepancy of Rs.100 between the Labour Department’s calculations and ours. We asked him for documents. We were told these were closely guarded (state secrets? issues of national security?) and could not be shared. What is the Government concealing, we asked?  Has it reduced wages artificially by depressing food consumption to malnutrition levels? Are workers wages being calculated on 2200 calories per day rather than the mandatory 2700 calories per day necessary for a moderately active male? We received a pleasant smile in reply.

The next issue we brought up was of High Court stay orders against minimum wage revision. A representative from Shramajivi Samanvay Committee representing brick workers angrily said, “The brick field owners stayed revision of minimum wages in 2004. You have not sent a representative to the court even once in the past 7 years, forget trying to get the stay withdrawn.” The representatives of hosiery workers and shop employees brought up similar problems. The JLC mumbled (smilingly, of course!) about how this was not his concern but the duty of the law cell of the department.

We then brought up the issue of minimum wage enforcement. The problems were myriad - inspectors who go to factories, take bribes from owners and return without taking any action; the fewer minimum wage inspectors; minimum wage inspectors who do everything – gathering data for surveys and the Census, correction of the BPL List and voters’ list – except enforcement of minimum wages; assistant labour commissioners who have no enforcement powers; a huge decline in cases of punishment for non payment of minimum wages; violent attacks by police – and administration-supported employers –  on workers who demand minimum wages; Government departments violating the minimum wages act themselves etc. The JLC accepted all our criticisms, smiling as always. 

The meeting ended with a clear admission by the JLC that there had been a shift in focus within the Government. While the Labour Department itself had been marginalised, within the Department’s functioning, the enforcement of minimum wages, which involved taking contentious anti-employer stands, was not seen as an important function. Instead, minimum wage inspectors and the other staff of the department were kept occupied in enlisting people for various Government-aided lollipops of welfare schemes. Even here the performance was pathetic –  in the 10 years since the State Assisted Scheme of Provident Fund for Unorganised Workers (SASPFUW) had been initiated , the JLC informed us that they had enlisted 23 lakhs unorganised sector workers in West Bengal.  This is less than 8% of the 2.9 crores unorganised sector workers in the state. These are 2004-05 figures and numbers have increased since then.[1]
 

The meeting ended on the expected note, with the JLC explaining that he had neither information, nor any effective action for us. He said (smilingly), “Aaamder haath-pa bandha” (our hands and feet are tied), showing once more the total ineffectualness of the Labour Department in West Bengal.

The 2,500 workers left soon after for their homes, just as empty handed as they had come, only with a resolve to come back once again to force the Government to accept their demands for a fair wage and for proper enforcement.

Asanghatit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch has based its minimum wage calculations on the universally accepted 15^th Indian Labour Conference norms and Supreme Court orders that state a family unit consists of 2 adults and 2 children; each adult must have a balance diet with 2,700 calories per day and each person 18 yards of cloth per year; each family will spend 20% of its wage on fuel, electricity etc. and 25% on health education and entertainment; and each family must be given rent for housing in keeping with Government’s minimum housing allowance . Food requirements per adult as are as follows at current prices. 

Item	Quantity (gm)	Calorie (100 gm)	Calorie value	Cost per kg	Total cost
Grains (Rice, Wheat)	397	345	1370	18	7.15
Dal	85.2	343	292	55	8.69
Greens	113.8	51	58	10	1.13
Potato	85.2	50	43	15	1.28
Other vegatables	85.2	32	27	12	1.02
Fruit	85.2	59	50	50	8.26
Milk	200	67	134	22 (per litre)	8.8
Oil & Ghee	40	900	360	65	2.6
Sugar	56.68	398	226	30	1.7
Fish & Meat	85.2	105	89	120	10.22
Half egg	28.25	173	49	3.5	1.75
Total			2698		40.2

Cloth required during the year is 72 yards or Rs 3,600 per year which amounts to Rs 30 per day (agricultural workers getting work only for 120 days per annum) . Thus cloth and food take Rs 150.60. With 20% of this or Rs 30.12 for fuel; with 25% of cloth+food+fuel or  Rs 45.18 for education and health; and 10% of the total so far or Rs 22.59 for  rent, the daily wage should be  Rs 248.49.

[1] http://www.nceus.gov.in/Report_Statistical_Issues_Informal_Economy.pdf

Officials Accept Badges Of Shame

Amidst gheraos, slogan shouting and a flurry of black badges, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity concluded their NREGA Lajja Diwas (Day of Shame) programme today, February 2. The Day of Shame was observed in 37 blocks of 7 districts with participation from over 5,000 union members on the occasion of the 5^th anniversary of NREGA. The intention was to draw public attention to the utter failure of the scheme in West Bengal. 

In Krishnagar 1 block in Nadia district, the BDO, Indrani Sarkar, was gheraoed by PBKMS members. No work has been given in this block for the past 5 months, despite repeated work demands from the people. The police was called in by the BDO, who wanted Samity members arrested. However, the Samity members insisted that the BDO should instead be arrested  because she was breaking the law by not giving work under NREGA. After a tense four hours, the gherao was lifted when the District Magistrate and District Nodal Officer intervened with the promise of giving work immediately. Members in Nadia were also present in large numbers in deputations at Nakashipara, Chapra and Shantipur blocks.

Surprisingly, however, there were no other places where strong arguments were presented by officials, defending the State Government’s performance of NREGA.  Everyone meekly accepted the Samity’s contention that NREGA has been a grand failure in West Bengal. Many BDOs ( Namkhana in South 24 Parganas, Daton 1, Daton 2 Mohanpur and Medinipur Sadar in Paschim Midnapore, Egra 1 and Kanthi 1  in Purba Medinipur) accepted the black badge of shame that the (mainly women) members of PBKMS asked them to wear. Similarly, many Trinamool and  SUCI elected representatives leaders accepted the badges (such as the block presidents of Raidighi and Pathar Partima blocks, the Sahasabhapati of Namkhana and Pathar Pratima bloc). CPI(M) leaders were significant in their absence from all scenes of protests, so very few of them could be given black badges.

The main demands were:

·         Expansion of entitlements to individual entitlements rather than household entitlements should be made;

·         Limit of 100 workdays under NREGA should be raised to 270 days in a year;

·         Issues such as delay in payment of wages and delay in allocation of work should be immediately addressed;

·         As per the provisions of the law, punitive action should be taken against all officers who are found guilty;

·         As per the 15^th ILC norms, the minimum wage for NREGA workers at 2010 prices should be Rs 259.50

·         Immediate procedures and budgetary allocations to be made for payment of unemployment allowance and compensation of late payment of wages.

In Paschim Midnapore, an average of 27 person days has been allocated in the district. All the BDOs have said that they will try and give another 40 person days in the next two months. The Kulpi BDO in South 24 Parganas promised to complete 100 days of work for all those demanding work within 31^st March 2011, before the fiscal year ends. BDOs also agreed to call meetings with recalcitrant Pradhans and to sort out specific issues in the next few days in Pathar Pratima and Namkhana blocks.

Programmes were held at 8 blocks namely Purulia 1, Purulia 2, Hura, Manbazar1, Santuri, Barabazar, Balarampur and Puncha in Purulia district. Protest meetings were also held in Santuri, Hura and Puncha. Meetings with BDOs were held at all blocks barring Purulia 1 and Barabazar. Apart from the common demands (as listed above), workers in Purulia which is reeling under drought demanded that apart from wages for work being done under NREGA, rice should also be given to the workers. They also demanded immediate payment of other legal entitlements like unemployment allowance and compensation for delayed wages that have not been paid for the past 5 years.

Samity members in Bankura campaigned with black flags in the district headquarters on the 1^st and on the 2^nd gave deputations to the District magistrate and BDOs of three blocks (Chatna, Bankura 1 and Saltora). In this district, which is also drought affected, workers who have completed 100 days of work were assured that they would be given additional work if they asked for it within this financial year.

In some areas, such as Canning 1 block where Abdul Rezzak Mollah CPI(M) Land Reforms Minister still rules with an iron hand and where people have met with violence on the NREGA issue, union members limited their protest actions to the Gram Panchayat office, fearing attacks if they went to the Block office.

In North 24 Parganas, members were pleasantly surprised to have their work appreciated by Government officials. The BDO of Bongaon said that such programmes put pressure on him and made it easier for him to pressure the district-level officials in turn. The Nirman Sahayak in Chandpara GP who is getting an award for his special contribution to women’s empowerment in NREGA, said the Samity was responsible for his award as in his Panchayat women’s work had gone from zero to about 40 days in the past 10 months only because of the Samity’s movement. Rina Pathak, a Samity activist, replied, “These words are of little use to us. Instead , give us work and our full wages!”