Seoul Metro workers stage “warning strike” over planned layoffs

Peoples Dispatch | 11 Nov 2023

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The management of Seoul Metro has used losses over the past few years as a reason behind laying off over 2,200 workers, while trade unions argue it will affect safety standards

Thousands of workers organized by the KPTU rallied near the Seoul City Hall, launching the two-day strike. (Photo: KPTU)

On Thursday, November 9, over 10,000 workers at Seoul Metro began their two-day strike action against plans by the rail operator to lay off an estimated 2,212 employees, or 13.5% of the total workforce, by 2026. Of these, 383 workers are set to be terminated by the end of 2023 alone.

Over 7,000 workers participated in a massive rally at the Daehanmun Gate near the Seoul City Hall, launching the strike.

Seoul Metro or Seoul Transportation Corporation, a publicly-owned enterprise under the Seoul Metropolitan Government, operates Lines 1 to 8 in the Seoul subway network and part of Line 9. Serving over 7 million million passengers daily, it is the biggest subway operator in the city.

The company has been claiming operational losses over the past few years and a total deficit of KRW 18.4 trillion (or USD 13.9 billion) to justify the planned lay-offs. But trade unions have argued that the lay-offs will only affect safety of the subway at a time when a batch of retiring workers will leave behind a vacuum of on-site safety workers.

Negotiations with trade unions representing the more than 16,000 metro workers have failed to yield results. The trade unions have also noted that 276 vacancies are left behind by retiring workers, and demanded at least 771 new workers this year alone, instead of the proposed workforce cuts.

“The safety of the people and subways will be threatened by the reduction of the workforce and outsourcing of safety work,” said Myung Soon-pil, chairman of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union (KPTU). The KPTU is the largest of the three unions in the Seoul Metro network, representing over 10,000 workers. It is affiliated to Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

“Following the plan of the Seoul Metro, a vacuum in on-site safety personnel will be inevitable from January next year. Given that the recruitment process takes four to five months, we should hurry up with the recruitment right now,” said Myung.

“The comrades requested safety personnel to ensure that the Kim incident at Guui Station and the Sindang Station disaster never happen again,” said Hyun Jeong-hee, a leader of the KPTU, addressing the rally at Seoul City Hall.

Hyun was referencing the death of a 19-year old irregular metro worker in Guui Station in 2016 and the gruesome murder of a female worker in Sindang Station in 2022, to highlight the precarious and unsafe working conditions that Metro employees are put under.

Last minute negotiations broke down earlier this week to avoid strike, after the operator refused to fill in the upcoming vacancies. Following failed negotiations the KPTU went ahead with the “warning strike.”

In the last minute deal, the management has so far only offered to add 660 new recruits this year, with no commitments on the over 2,200 workers set to be laid off in the coming years. All three unions rejected the deal.

Unions have also warned of a general strike later this month if the Seoul Metro management and the conservative People Power Party (PPP)-led Seoul city government continue to disregard workers’ demands. The trade union however stated that the general strike, if needed, will be held after November 16, the day of nationwide college entrance exams.

Courtesy: peoples dispatch

INDIA

Women Construction Workers Demand Equal pay for Equal Work

Neelambaran A | 07 Nov 2023

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The national convention of women construction workers in Kanniyakumari also demanded a law against sexual harassment in the workplace.

CWFI general secretary UP Joseph addresses the national convention of women construction workers in Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu, on Monday.

Around 70 lakh women employed in the construction sector are severelyexploited. Besides being paid much less than men, they face sexual harassment in the workplace. 

With more women joining the sector, the demand for equal wages for

equal work, prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace and toilet facilities has gained momentum.

The national convention of women construction workers, organised by the Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI) in Kanniyakumari on Monday, raised a national charter of eight demands, including bridging the yawning gap between wages paid to men and women.

The report of the Primus Partners and World Trade Centre on the construction and real estate sector in India in January revealed that women workers are paid 30%-40% lessthan men. Irrespective of the number of years they work, women are considered unskilled workers, earn low wages and face the risk of losing jobs. 

The convention also urged state governments to provide financial

aid to women workers for the education of their children, inclusive medical insurance for enrolled workers, maternity benefits and pension after 55 years. 

The convention also demanded the proper implementation of the 2006

National Creche Scheme. The participants alleged that the Centre had diluted the Scheme by reducing the budgetary allocation.

“The allocation for the Scheme has decreased by 59% between FY19 and FY22. Moreover, 11,582 of the 18,040 creches under the Scheme were shut down between FY18 and FY20, the delegates said. 

Around 200 women construction workers from several states mentionedthe problems they face, like the failure to effectively implement The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, ensuring appropriate aid for workers.

Sonali Deb Sharma, a district-level CWFI office-bearer in West Bengal, accused the All India Trinamool Congress government of redirecting Rs 1,600 crore from the construction workers welfare board to other purposes. 

“The government has been undemocratic in multiple ways since assuming power in 2011. The mishandling of the welfare board’s money is no different. The government is spending the money on fairs while workers haven’t been paid pensions for, at least, two years,” she told NewsClick. 

“The government threatens sexual violence victims, especially tribals, using the police if they speak up. Fearing police action, most victims remain silent,” Sharma added. 

With a large presence in Kerala, construction workers have won decisive battles to ensure the smooth functioning of the welfare board but have raised concerns about the Centre’s actions. 

“The state has had a welfare board since 1989 when the Left DemocraticFront was in power. In recent years, the board has been paying for several schemes, including financial aid for maternity benefits, due to the lack of allocation of Central funds,” Shafirunissa, a construction worker from Malappuram district, told NewsClick. “The board may soon face a financial crunch.”

Kerala construction workers have also accused the Centre of implementing laws affecting the sector, including the blanket ban on quarrying in areas adjacent to forests.

“Construction workers, particularly women, are losing jobs since constructing buildings and quarrying is banned in buffer zones. There should be regulations on exploiting natural resources, but a blanket ban leads to the loss of livelihood for lakhs of workers,” Shafirunissa said. 

The workers also highlighted the “drastic reduction” in scholarships for their children.    

“Though free bus travel and the monthly financial aid help women workers, the drastic reduction in education scholarship for children has badly affected them,” Lakshmi, an organiser of women construction workers in Bengaluru, told NewsClick. 

“The scholarship ranged from Rs 11,000 to Rs 75,000 for primary to

medical education. Now, it has been cut from Rs 1,100 to Rs 11,000, which is unacceptable,” she said. 

The CWFI urged the state government to regulate the registration

of construction workers on the board as ineligible people are registeringthrough different e-service centres.

“Large numbers of registration, even by people unrelated to

construction, is affecting the eligible workers. They are not getting laptops and education scholarships for their children and pensions,” Lakshmi alleged.

Demands for better compensation for natural and accidental deaths, permanent disabilities, marriage support and maternity benefits were also raised. 

“We have demanded free treatment for registered workers at private

and government hospitals during minor and major illnesses or accidents without restricting the number of hospitals,” Lakshmi said. 

She said that state governments must ensure equal wages for men

and women in construction projects. “They can set an example, at least, in such instances.” 

The convention also passed resolutions seeking an immediate halt

to the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, implementation of 33%

reservation for women in Assemblies and Parliament, withdrawal of cases filed under the UAPA against NewsClick’s editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and ensuring a monthly minimum wage of Rs 26,000. ($311.97 US Dollars)

 INDIA STRIKES

Tamil Nadu: TASMAC Headload Workers Demand Wage Hike; Plan Indefinite Strike if Demand Unmet

Sruti MD | 10 Nov 2023

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The Association’s state president, R Venkatapathy, addressed the demonstration held in Namakkal. He said, “Headload workers get wage hikes every two years. At present, three years have passed, and there is no sign of a wage hike.”

At the protest held in Salem. Image courtesy: CITU, Tamil Nadu

Headload workers at TASMAC’s alcohol godowns held demonstrations across Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, demanding a wage hike. The protest was called after several rounds of talks with the TASMAC management and many protests. The TASMAC administration has not given a hike to the workers since 2020.

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)-affiliated TASMAC Head Loaders Association demanded that the management increase wages from Rs 5.50 to Rs 9 and from Rs 4 to Rs 8 for every carton of liquor. They unload cartons from the breweries into the godowns and load them for supply from the godowns.

The Association’s state president, R Venkatapathy, addressed the demonstration held in Namakkal. He said, “Headload workers get wage hikes every two years. At present, three years have passed, and there is no sign of a wage hike.”

The Association pointed out that prices of all commodities have shot up in the past few years, including the price of alcohol sold by TASMAC. The headload workers directly fall under the purview of the state-run corporation, but they are not government employees and do not have job security or any benefits. These workers are not the same as the workers doing loading and unloading work at the TASMAC liquor depots.

The state-owned Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) has a monopoly over wholesale and retail vending of alcoholic beverages. It controls the Indian Made Foreign Liquor trade in the state.

MINISTER’S DIRECTION ‘NOT FOLLOWED’

S Muthusamy, the minister in charge of prohibition, excise, and molasses, has directed the TASMAC management to increase the minimum wages for headload workers. Yet, the management has refused to act accordingly, and this has angered the workers. The protests were directed against the management, condemning their attitude.

Venkatapathy said, “We held several protests in the past year and had meetings with the managing director of TASMAC. We also met Minister Muthusamy and urged him to take appropriate action to increase wages. Following this, the minister instructed the managing director of TASMAC to immediately talk to the liquor manufacturers and take steps to increase the wages.”

“Even after these efforts, when our union leaders met the managing director of TASMAC on November 1, there seems to have been no arrangements made for a wage hike. It is not acceptable that the TASMAC management did not take appropriate action despite the minister’s instructions,” he added.

He further stated, “The minister should immediately intervene and find a solution to increase wages.” The Association announced that if their demands are not addressed by the Tamil Nadu government and the TASMAC administration, they will go on an indefinite strike from November 29.

Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Strike as raw Materials Turn Costlier, Yarn Gets Cheaper

Sruti MD | 08 Nov 2023

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More than 600 open-end spinning mills have halted production till November 30.

Representational Image. Image Courtesy: PTI

Open-end (OE) spinning mills around western Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur and Coimbatore are unable to withstand the rising cost of raw material, decreasing yarn price and market slowdown. Urging the government to control the prices, more than 600 spinning mills halted production on Tuesday till November 30.

The Open End Spinning Mill Association (OSMA) has also demanded an immediate reduction in electricity tariff, hiked in September. MSMEs had also opposed the new tariff.

OSMA president G Arulmozhi told NewsClick that “open-end mills procure cotton waste from spinning mills to produce 25 lakh kg of grey cotton yarn”.

“We produce 15 lakh kg of coloured cotton yarn daily using plastic PET bottle fibre and post-garment cutting wastes. We send these to power loom and handloom units in the state, who manufacture products like bedsheets, lungis and towels.”

Everyday, one crore metre of grey cotton yarn is produced by OE mills. The strike will result in production loss of Rs 1,000 crore and no wages for workers.

INCREASE IN PRODUCTION COST

The prices of grey cotton yarn and coloured cotton yarn have shot up.

“The cost of one kg of cotton is Rs 160. Based on this, the cost of waste cotton should have been Rs 97 per kg, not Rs 115,” Arulmozhi said.

“The cost of electricity and raw materials has increased manifold in the last five years. If the government does not reduce the electricity tariff, the textile industry will close down,” he added.

OSMA demanded that the Centre immediately stop cotton waste export to control the price of raw material. The Association has also demanded the scrapping of the 11% tax levied on cotton import, which affects OE mills, and relaxation in quality-control norms for synthetic fibres.

“More than 600 open-end spinning mills produce yarn worth Rs 60 crore daily. For the last six months, only 50% of the mills are operational,” Arulmozhi said.

“We stopped production as there will be losses if we continue to run the mills. Thirty mills have already stopped production.”

OE spinning mills provides 30% of the yarn used in textile production in Tamil Nadu.

After several rounds of talks, mill owners decided to halt production. They had already sent most workers to their hometowns and reduced production by half before halting it completely.

UNABLE TO COMPETE IN MARKET

Many states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar and Punjab have announced new textile policies and give 50% subsidy to textile mills. Tamil Nadu mills are unable to compete with other states due to the lack of incentives and unable to produce clothes at low cost.

Arulmozhi pointed that OE mills in Panipat, Haryana, sell yarn at 30% lower prices compared to those in Tamil Nadu.

OE yarn manufacturers also claim that textile production is affected due to the inability of exporting goods. Domestic textile production has been affected as fabric is produced and sold at low prices compared to rival countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam.

WB: Woes of Beedi Workers Continue in Murshidabad District

Sandip Chakraborty | 09 Nov 2023

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The convention of the beedi workers' unions demanded a tripartite meeting between the joint action committee, Beedi Merchants' Association of Dhulian and the government of West Bengal.

Representational image. | image courtesy: Flickr

On November 8, 2023, the joint action committee of Beedi Workers' Union organised an open convention in the Dhulian region of the Murshidabad district. 

The convention demanded a tripartite meeting between the joint action committee, Beedi Merchants' Association of Dhulian and the government of West Bengal. 

The joint action committee has been raising the demand of minimum wages for beedi workers, as per government schedule. It includes representatives from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), United Trade Union Congress (UTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Federation of Indian Trade Unions (FITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) and All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU).  

The labour unions of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not joined the movement. 

Debasish Roy, the general secretary of the All India Beedi Workers' Federation of India, informed NewsClick that in West Bengal, 22 lakh people are engaged in the profession of beedi rolling. 

"In the Murshidabad district, the number of beedi workers is about 17 lakh. The wages of around two-third of the beedi workers of West Bengal are fixed through the settlement between the workers' union and Beedi Merchants' Association of Dhulian." 

The beedi industry of West Bengal is being run from the Jangipur subdivision of Murshidabad. 

According to the CITU leadership, about nine lakh beedi workers are from Jangipur subdivision. About two lakh beedi workers from Jharkhand also work under the companies that operate from Jangipur .

A beedi packet consisting of 20 beedis is sold for Rs 12 in the market, pegging the price of 1000 bidis at Rs 600 even by the lowest estimates. The practice of 'Patti' is not standardised in Murshidabad. 

Interestingly, according to the 2011 Census, the total number of inhabitants of the district is 71.04 lakhs, of which 17 lakh adults are related to the beedi trade. Most of the owners of the beedi companies are millionaires and directly related to the ruling party as MPs and MLAs. The local MP is also a Beedi company owner, as is the MLA. Even the Zilla chairperson of the Murshidabad district is the owner of a beedi-manufacturing unit. 

Amongst the beedi manufacturers, Pataka Beedi is the largest one, with a huge mansion as its head office in Kolkata; its products are even exported to the Gulf countries.

Khatun, who works as a beedi worker, does not have a PF account. Of the 17 lakh bidi workers in Murshidabad, only three lakh have PF registrations in their names. 

"Even if I have a high fever or am extremely unwell, I still have to carry on with the work of beedi binding seven days a week with whatever leaves we can manage from the company," she said. 

Khatun binds beedi for a contractor of Noor company, whose owner Khalilur Rahman is the local MP from the Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency.

MD Azad, a beedi worker who is also the president of the All India Bidi Workers' Federation (AIBWF) - Murshidabad unit, said that the exploitation of workers by the bidi manufacturers is coupled with the apathetic attitude of the Central and the state governments, which adds to the problems of the beedi workers in the state. As most beedi company owners are leaders of the locally ruling TMC, the state government, where the same party is in power, always sides with the owners, he said. 

The government also has a long history of dilly-dallying when it comes to signing the wage agreements in the sector as by government rules, the minimum wage should be Rs 276, Azad added.

In the Murshidabad district, the minimum wage has been fixed at Rs 178. However, the bribes such as patti and the practice of giving less leaves to the beedi workers for binding bring the actual wage down to the Rs 130-140 level. 

"We are fighting against these, but the state government is maintaining a stoic silence over this issue," Azad said.

"In the last few years, the Central government has collected Rs 1,164 crore as cess from the beedi manufacturing companies, but the privileges that we were supposed to get from the cess amount are slowly being withdrawn," the AIBWF president said. 

As per the social security network of the beedi workers, they are supposed to get an allowance for entertainment like going to sea sides, house building, scholarships, and medical treatment. 

"Except for the scholarship, and to some extent, the medical allowances, all the other schemes have been withdrawn by the Central government even though it gets crores of rupees as cess every year from the sector," he said in disdain. 

There are ten big hospitals in the country for treating beedi workers, of which the biggest is located at Tarapur of Murshidabad district. However, the hospital does not have adequate facilities for treatment and even ECG and USG machines are not active for want of technicians. 

There is also not a sufficient number of doctors and nurses in the hospital, which is located on 70 bighas of land at Tarapur in the Dhulian block of Murshidabad. Many of the 292 welfare dispensaries the country has are situated in Murshidabad but lack medicine stocks.

WB: Workers' Wages Due, 5 Tea Estates in Alipurduar ‘Abruptly Shuttered’ Before Diwali

People’s Reporter | 09 Nov 2023

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Fearing an agitation over bonus, the owners put up a notice on halting work in 5 tea gardens, affecting 6,000 permanent workers and 3,000 temporary workers.

Kolkata: Ahead of the Diwali festival, five tea gardens were suddenly closed in Alipurduar amid workers' dissatisfaction with wages. As a result, about 9,000 permanent and temporary workers and their families face a dark Diwali this year.

The workers are angry and upset and have demanded that the administration should open the tea gardens immediately.

Labour leader Bikash Mahali told People's Reporter that “the condition of tea workers has deteriorated since the current Central or state government came to power. Both the governments are not doing anything on the issue of social security of the workers, as compared to the erstwhile Left Front government. Today's plantation owners pay nothing but wages. They do not deposit provident fund money. Many workers have not received their gratuity even after years of retirement.”

Demanding that pending wages be paid, Mahali said: “Since the next three months are dry, the owners are closing the garden unfairly so that they don’t have to pay salaries. Closed plantation workers are leaving the state for other states in search of work. We are fighting against it.”

Another tea garden labour leader Bidyut Gun said “the union had discussed the opening of the garden with the labour department. The Joint Labour Commissioner said the tripartite meeting will be called before Diwali. However, the possibility of having a representative of the owner in that meeting is low, the Joint Labour Commissioner informed us.”

He said, “If the representative of the owner does not come to the tripartite meeting, no solution will be found. However, on behalf of the workers, we will attend the Labour Department meeting,”

Vikas Mohali, a tea garden worker, said that owners had stopped work in five gardens, including Kalchini. As a result, at least 6,000 permanent workers and 3,000 temporary workers had been hit.

He said that the gardens are closed for leaf picking from November to the first week of March. In that period, only the work of garden maintenance is done. If the garden is open, the owners would have to pay wages. So, they have decided to close the gardens. However, they promised to open the garden again at the meeting of the Labour Department in March.

Mohali said that during the Left Front government, the Labour Department took steps to protect the interests of garden workers. “Now, the opposite is happening. Garden workers are being cheated,” he added.

Meanwhile, no arrangement has been made by the state administration for ensuring some relief to workers in the closed gardens. Workers of Kalchini, Dalsingpara, Raimatang, Ramjhora, and Dalmor plantations are now moving out as temporary labourers in nearby plantations, said labour union sources.  Some are trying to make ends meet by working as construction workers in nearby villages.

Puja Kharia, atea garden workers, said, "The days of starvation and half-starvation are coming again.Workers in the closed gardens rely on vegetables and flowers picked from the surrounding bushes. That is how they fill their stomachs. The little rice and flour in the ration do not last for a whole month”.

Dipak Baraik said there were six members in his family. “Everyone depends on my earnings. With earnings stopped, there is not enough for food, for children's education."

The workers were upset that neither the Trinamool government in the state nor the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre care about the opening of closed gardens, and are indulging in blame games. Union Minister John Barla, who represents Alipurduar in the Lok Sabha, has been firing a barrage of blames at the state government’s door, while TMC leaders say they have reported the problem to state Labour Minister Malay Ghatak.

When asked, Alipurduar District Magistrate R. Bimala said the district administration was trying to provide rice and relief to the workers of the closed tea gardens.

Without paying one month's wages to 2003 permanent workers of the Kalchini tea plantation, the authorities just left after hanging a notice of suspension of work, said workers.

At a time when the entire state is celebrating the festival season, darkness has descended on three tea gardens of Dooars. The owners have locked up two tea gardens in Madarihat and Kalchini in Alipurduar for two consecutive days. It is alleged that after workers of the Mujnai tea plantation in Madarihat demanded a 20% Durga Puja bonus, the owners ran away after locking the garden. As a result, 1,000 workers of the Mujnai tea plantation are jobless.

The Raimatang tea plantation in Kalchini block was closed, affecting about 1,200 workers. As these two tea estates in the district were shut down within 24 hours of each other, the workers went into panic. The workers claim that despite being angry about the bonus, they did not stop work. Yet, without any discussion, the authorities closed the gardens without any notice.

 

Bihar: Anganwadi Workers Protest, Demand Honorarium Hike, Govt Employee Status

Mohd. Imran Khan | 07 Nov 2023

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The sevikas and sahayikas, who tried to gherao the Assembly, also threatened to intensify their stir if their demands were not met.

Security personnel in a scuffle with Anganwadi workers protesting outside the Bihar Legislative Assembly, in Patna, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Image Courtesy: PTI

Patna: Amid the ongoing winter session of the Bihar Assembly, hundreds of Anganwadi sevikas and sahayikas (helpers) took to the streets and staged a protest in Patna on Tuesday. 

The protesters tried to gherao Bihar Assembly as part of their protest demanding that the state government fulfil their five-point demand charter. They threatened to intensify their stir in the coming days if the Mahagathbandan government led by Nitish Kumar failed to fulfil their demands.

The protestors’ main demands include an increase in their monthly honorarium and government employee status for them. They are also demanding an increase in the
retirement age of the workers and a lump sum of Rs 5 lakh for Anganwadi sevikas and Rs 3 lakh for sahayikas.

Heavy security forces deployed by the state government stopped the sloganeering protestors near the state Assembly’s main gate when they tried to gherao the House. Police used water cannons and lathicharge to disperse the protestors.

According to leaders of the protest, during the police
action, some of them fell down and sustained injuries when police used water cannons.

“Our monthly honorarium is very low and we demand at least double the amount”, a protesting Anganwadi sevika Aparna Devi told Newsclick.

Another protestor, Savita Devi, said the state government should fulfil our demands because during the Bihar Assembly polls, none other than RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) leader and now Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav had promised to double monthly honorarium of Anganwadi sevikas and sahayikas if voted to power. “More than a year after he is in power, nothing has happened to our demands,” she said.

At present, the government is paying a monthly honorarium of Rs 6,500 to Anganwadi sevikas and Rs 5,900 to sahayikas.

later, Left parties, includng CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML) MLAs as well as Opposition BJP MLAs raised the issue of police action against Anganwadi protesters in the House.

In the past two years, thousands of Anganwadi sevikas and sahayikas, who are lowly paid contractual workers, have repeatedly protested, demanding a hike in honorarium,
government employee status and pension.

In Bihar, there are 2.15 lakh sevikas and sahayikas in nearly 1.14 lakh Anganwadi centres.

Last month, the state government increased the monthly honorarium of thousands of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, after repeated protests by the scheme workers. The honorarium was hiked from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500/month and the it was also demanded that
the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government should increase their honorarium under the National Health Mission.