Excluding contract workers from trade union membership denies them protection under labour laws: PUDR

Nearly two weeks after the Haryana Trade Union Registrar revoked the registration of the workers’ body at Bellsonica Auto Components India Ltd., the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) has said the Labour Department played a “dubious role” in the conflict between the workers’ union and the management over the issue of contract workers. It has sought a withdrawal of the Labour Department’s order and the reinstatement of all the terminated and suspended workers of Bellsonica, a company in Manesar that supplies car parts to auto major Maruti Suzuki.

The registration of the trade union was cancelled last month for granting membership to a contractual worker in alleged violation of the Trade Unions Act. The Bellsonica Auto Components India Employees’ Union has been at loggerheads with the company management over the workers’ rights. The union had admitted a contractual worker as an “ordinary member” in August 2021, soon after which the Registrar cancelled the union’s registration, saying only those workers who are actually engaged and employed with the establishment with which the union is connected could be its members as per various sections of the Trade Unions Act. The union had termed the decision as illegal.

In a statement on Monday, the PUDR said the law does not distinguish between permanent and contractual workers in forming a trade union.

“This is in recognition of prevailing employment practices in the industry, where the proportion of permanent workers is less than the contractual workforce. Given that most workers at Bellsonica today are contractually employed, excluding contract workers from the right to membership of the trade union amounts to denying them the protection under the labour laws and the right to collective bargaining,” the PUDR said.

It added that the Labour Department’s argument that contract workers and those employed by the principal employer do not share “a community of interest” misrepresents the reality of the shop floor, where all the workers are at par in the nature of their work, engaging in the same or similar operations.

The PUDR demanded that Bellsonica stop its policy of “arbitrary terminations and suspensions” and cancel the show-cause notices issued to the workers.