Does celebrating Labor Day have any impact on their lives?

 

   Does celebrating Labor Day have any impact on their lives?

On May 1st, we celebrated labour day to honour the contribution of workers in  country’s growth. And their majority of labours employed in construction industry who helps country to build infrastructure, building and homes to support country's growth story.

In India construction play very important role in country's economy and provide jobs to millions of people. This industry is highly labour intensive and most of them are unorganized and untrained.

Even though Labour Day is still recognized and celebrated across our nation, but it has lost its significance over time and is now just formality. If you talk to the labor, it does not matter to them on this day, but the industry does because it is a holiday.

Many construction workers struggle with issues like low pay, long working hours, dangerous working conditions, discrimination, health risks, hygienic accommodation a lack of training, and job insecurity.

if you check on ground, they are hardly getting between 300 to 500 rupees based on seniority which is much less if you compare with developed countries government minimum wages. Being such a big sector, the life of a labourer is full of struggle and have been a concern for many years.

As the industry continues to grow, a lot of attention is being paid to the safety of workers but still many workers are working in difficult condition.

There are some companies that pay close attention to site safety, compliance and have very tight HSE requirements, but you can count them on your fingers. In most of places, the rule is just for show off and the workers work in unhealthy environment and sometimes they also become victims of accidents.

By the way, the government has kept the minimum wages, but many workers are getting much less than that, which is a concern for industry. These workers are mostly from rural areas, and the majority of them are uninformed of their rights and privileges. Contractors take advantage of this ignorance to violate labour laws.

Majority of workers are migrant worker who came from state such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal and Odisa and some time they face discrimination and not given same respect or right as locals, and it has significantly expanded in recent years as a result of the intrusion of undesirable forces into this industry.

The worst part is that there is no job security; the contractor can fire workers at any moment, even without compensation, which means workers may not have consistent employment or benefits. This resulted in financial insecurity and stress. Consider the era of the Corona Pandemic, when work was halted due to lockdown, and the workers experienced the most difficulties. Some employees had to walk home because there was no work and they were not paid.

In many cases workers stay in labour colonies nearby to site and these colonies doesn't have basic facilities of clean water, sanitation and ventilation.

To avoid liability and compliance risks, the principal customer or main contractor rarely hires these individuals directly. They hire services through an agent and pay them through the agent, and the agent takes his cut and pays the labourers. They do this because labour agencies can provide greater flexibility in staffing because they can provide workers as needed and release them when the work is finished.

The government has implemented multiple programmes to improve worker’s living conditions and social security. It is now the obligation of construction businesses to ensure that more and more workers benefit from these initiatives.

Despite the challenges, we celebrate Labour Day to recognize workers' contributions to society and to renew our commitment to fighting for their rights and dignity; however, it should not be limited to celebration; rather, it should result in some change in their lives.

 

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