What were the reasons behind the spontaneous protest? What was your impression?

The spontaneity of the protests can be associated with the precariousness of working conditions, suppression by employers, and the removal of protections given by the old labour laws. In this situation, it was remarkable that without the support of any trade unions, workers came out to protest. It was a spontaneous response to government policies and suppression by employers.

Did unions anticipate the protests?

On February 12, the central trade unions called for a nationwide strike; the main demand was “scrap the Labour Codes”. The demands raised by the trade unions were similar to the issues raised in the recent protests: the right to form a union, minimum wage, fixation of working hours.

The Labour Codes diluted many of these protections that were there in the labour laws they replaced. This dilution affected workers adversely across the country, particularly in northern India, where serious trade union activity is relatively weak.

The CITU has a presence in some industries in Noida. But in the large companies employing thousands of workers, there isn’t any trade union presence. In both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, most workers are not unionised.

The immediate trigger for the protests in both Haryana and Noida was the hike in the price of cooking gas. Most of the workers are migrants from Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and northern Uttar Pradesh. All they get is Rs.12,000 or Rs.13,000 [a month]. I don’t know what criterion is followed for fixing minimum wage, but there is a principle for fixing minimum wage.

The Uttar Pradesh government declared a minimum wage 30 years ago, which was not revised periodically. As per the old Minimum Wages Act, wages are to be revised every five years. Within three years of a minimum wage proposal, the government is supposed to set up a committee of employers and employee organisations.

Nothing of this kind was done anywhere in northern India. In Haryana, workers demanded a revision of the minimum wage and a committee was constituted. The committee proposed Rs.23,000 as minimum wage. But when the proposal was submitted for government sanction, the government reduced it to Rs.16,000 and notified that amount. This provoked all sections of the workers.

Family members and relatives of those who were detained by the police following the workers’ protest in Noida, at a demonstration in Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on April 30. | Photo Credit: PTI

You said that unions are weak in northern India. Is it because they are unable to get a foothold or is it that repression is much higher in these parts?

Wherever we go, we explain the necessity of a trade union. But we observed that whenever there is labour unrest, it is not the labour department that intervenes; it is the police. So, whenever there are spontaneous worker protests, we have seen the police used to break up the protests, as in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Even women were not spared. Several were detained.

In Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand, there is a company that employs 3,000 workers and the majority of them are on contract. I have seen the ID card of the workers. There is no mention of the principal employer or the company on the card. The contractor’s name is given in place of the employer. This is illegal. Under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, the principal employer has some liabilities.

Did the workers believe that the labour codes would make a difference to their lives, especially as the government advertised its benefits a lot?

See, most of these workers are young. They do not know about government policies or the impact of labour policies. All they knew was that their minimum wages were not revised. They don’t know how to unionise or the importance of collective bargaining. We have started working among them to help them understand the necessity of a trade union.

The Labour Codes are clearly anti-labour. Twenty-nine labour laws were amended and subsumed into the four Labour Codes.

When the proposal was introduced in Parliament, the Left parties, along with the DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam], vehemently opposed it. I was a member of the Standing Committee on Labour, to which the Bills were sent for scrutiny. In these committees, the debates, unlike in Parliament, are conducted very seriously. Everyone goes through the details carefully. Some of us proposed amendments which were not accepted, but our dissent notes were part of the report. It is interesting that even amendments approved unanimously by the BJP members were not considered by the government.

The Bill was placed in the Rajya Sabha without any changes. We protested on the floor. We were suspended. The Labour Codes were passed. But immediately afterwards, there were protests across the country. The government was hesitant to implement the codes. After the NDA won in 2024, they became confident and the rules were framed and the codes notified.

Only one State government, headed by the LDF [Left Democratic Front] in Kerala, decided not to implement the Labour Codes. The Pinarayi Vijayan government convened a labour conclave where a committee under retired Supreme Court Justice Gopal Gowda was formed. This committee held that every State had the right to amend labour laws and that the codes were not binding. Interestingly, as soon as the Central government notified the rules, the Congress government in Karnataka notified the codes in the State.

We immediately wrote to [Congress president Mallikarjun] Kharge saying the Karnataka government’s attitude was anti-labour and that all unions were going for a national strike demanding scrapping of the Labour Codes. He intervened and the rules were halted. But who knows, they might bring it back and notify the codes in the future. In BJP-ruled States, even before the Labour Codes were notified, many unfavourable features like the 12-hour working day were implemented.

At a protest in Bengaluru on February 12 during a nationwide strike called by a joint forum of central trade unions to demand the repeal of the four labour codes and withdrawal of several government policies. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Supreme Court judgment on minimum wages in the 1992 Raptakos Brett & Co Ltd case was path-breaking. It said that minimum wages must cover all basic necessities and employers cannot cite financial hardship to default on payment. It is an irony that more than 30 years later, the same issues are coming up.

Yes, this judgment was historic. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer headed that Constitution Bench. After the judgment, the Minimum Wages Act was made applicable to various sectors, not just factories. It was helpful for workers to argue for minimum wages. Now, a 14-member Constitution Bench has been constituted to review the Raptakos judgment, which was delivered by a 12-member Constitution Bench.

We are aware that all sections, the executive and judiciary, are in favour of the employer class. There are principles regarding wages. First there is a minimum wage, then fair wage, then living wage. Why does the government stick to notifying minimum wages alone? The country has developed and so has industry. Indian companies earn in crores today, possessing two-thirds of the country’s wealth. None can disagree that Indian industry is doing well. In such a situation, why does the government insist on minimum wages for manufacturing and services which are making huge profits?

The CITU wrote a letter to the ILO on the criminalisation of labour protests in Noida.

Yes. We pointed out the systematic violations of the right to form unions and organise and of the right to collective bargaining and peaceful assembly during the Noida protests. Our government is violating ILO principles. The 8-hour workday is the first ILO convention. In Noida, workers were made to work for 12 hours. Being a founder member of the ILO, the government is bound to implement ILO conventions. Most countries today don’t honour the ILO conventions.

The Indian Labour Conference [ILC], a tripartite body, is supposed to be convened each year, and the Prime Minister inaugurates it. After 2015, no meeting of the ILC has been held. There is therefore no national tripartite committee to look into workers’ issues.

India’s 70-crore-strong workforce, including agricultural workers, is being neglected by the government. All trade unions have jointly demanded that the government convene the ILC.

Many people have been detained by the Noida Police, and their whereabouts are unknown. The government’s defence is that there was violence.

It is inhuman. Many women were detained too. We don’t know how many are in custody. We learnt that over 1,200 people had been arrested. Trade union leaders were targeted. We have a team of lawyers who are assisting with bail, etc. In Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, the women workers of V-Guard company went on a protest demanding an enhancement of their minimum wages. They were brutally lathicharged. Some ran inside the factory. Four women workers were in police custody.

We tried to take it up with the District Collector. He refused to meet us. I am a former MP, general secretary of the CITU, and a former Minister in the Kerala government. We waited till late in the evening for an audience to discuss labour issues. How could the police intervene in a labour dispute? The women were finally released. There is practically no one to speak up for them. The Uttar Pradesh government has marginally increased the minimum wage, but no legal process was followed. No trade union representatives were involved in the decision.

An industrial cell has been set by the Noida Police to resolve industrial disputes. Are you in agreement with this?

The police are not the authority to constitute a cell for industrial development and labour issues.