Scrap dealers, healthcare providers, clay-tile makers, plantation companies and owners of shops and business establishments expressed their opinion on the draft of Labour Policy 2017, which was put up for public consideration at an interactive session chaired by Labour and Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan here on Tuesday.
Organised under the aegis of the Kerala Institute of Labour and Employment (KILE), the interactive session saw a frank exchange of views among stakeholders including senior Labour Department officials as well as business owners.
While many business owners questioned the rationale behind having a new policy for Kerala while the laws should be applicable across India, plastic product-makers pointed out that prescribing ₹600 as minimum wages would put plastic units in the State at a competitive disadvantage.
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Part-time workers
The bakers’ association said the workers employed by its members also comprised part-timers. Prescribing minimum wages would complicate matters. Fruit importers and vendors said minimum wages and other conditions prescribed in the draft policy would impede a business that had already been hit by the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Kerala State Small Industries Association (KSSIA), representing one of the largest sectoral employers in the State, said the new proposals might bring back the ‘Inspector Raj’. Persecution of employment-providers may be around the corner with the new regulations. The penal clauses in the new proposals struck terror in the minds of employers, said a representative.
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Building and property developers represented by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (Credai) and Builders’ Association of India said minimum wages across the board would not be suited to the sector as wages were decided by the skills possesed by employees.
Clay-tile manufacturers narrated a tale of woe, starting with scarcity of raw materials. The tile makers wanted negotiations on payments to be linked to productivity. The Association of Planters of Kerala (APK) too raise the demanded for linking payments to productivity was well as for a change in the yardstick on minimum wages.