NewzVille Desk
The Unorganised Workers and Employees Congress (UWEC) has issued an urgent appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking the immediate scrapping of the four Labour Codes, alleging that the laws are “inherently anti-worker, corporate-centric, and have snatched away hard-won labour rights”.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters today, Chairman of the Unorganised Workers and Employees Congress, Dr Udit Raj alleged that the Code on Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Social Security Code (2020), and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020) collectively undermine job security, wage stability, workplace safety, and social protection, affecting crores of workers across the country.
He stated that the Codes have eroded protections gained through decades of struggle, compromised the dignity and safety of workers, and threatened the livelihoods of India’s unorganised and low-income workforce, which constitutes more than 90 per cent of the national labour force.
Dr Raj criticised the legalisation of ‘hire and fire’, citing the increase of the layoff/retrenchment approval threshold from 100 to 300 workers.
He noted the removal of statutory protection linked to Standing Orders, leading to the erosion of service conditions overing misconduct, grievance redressal, and related matters.
The UWEC Chairman remarked that the normalisation of Fixed-Term Employment (FTE) effectively ends long-term employment prospects.
He described the Code’s provisions for gig and platform workers as “tokenistic,” providing only registration and ID cards but no enforceable benefits under ESIC, EPFO, gratuity, maternity benefits, or insurance mechanisms. Reduction in the role of existing Welfare Boards was flagged as undermining the continuity of welfare schemes,he said.
UWEC called for a single, strong Welfare Board for all unorganised workers to ensure uniform, effective and accountable social protection.
Seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention, Dr Raj urged him to intervene immediately and scrap all four Labour Codes, asserting that they fail to ensure uniform protections and weaken the constitutional rights of India’s working class.
