South Asia Citizens Web

Writing about global labor at a time of escalating nationalism, trade wars, and anti-immigration policies seems like bad timing, unlike during the heyday of neoliberal globalization when some currents in unions and pro-labor academics pondered about labor’s possible contributions to an alternative globalization. Many contributions to this debate saw globalization as the trigger of a race to the bottom in which nation-states lost their ability to intervene on the side of workers.

Amidst the micro and macro-economic crisis of the last 5 years, the union government has aggressively pushed the agenda of labour law reforms — purportedly to simplify India’s ‘complex’ labour legislations, improve the business environment, and augment growth and employment. These changes, driven primarily by the business fraternity, have been aimed at improving India’s ranking in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (EDB) index and FDI flows. However, workers and trade unions have called these reforms anti-working class, pushing India back to the ‘British Era’ when slavery was a norm. It is ironic that while there was an outpouring of national sympathy from state and industry for migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown, both have turned their backs on the workforce by backing appalling anti-work legislation. In the history of independent India, the passage of labour laws that protect workers has involved long, difficult struggles by the working class. However, in one stroke, the government intends to put the last nail into the coffin of labour protection.

MAHILA KISAN ADHIKAAR MANCH (MAKAAM) or Forum for Women Farmers’ Rights condemns and expresses deep concern over the increasing incidence of violence, harassment and atrocities against adivasi and other traditional forest dwellers especially women forest dwellers in Uttarakhand.

As such, for the survival of 808 Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits/Kashmiri Hindus families living in Kashmir Valley, I, Sanjay K. Tickoo, President, KPSS have decided to start Fast-Unto-Death from today i.e. 20.09.2020 against Relief Department for persecution and bureaucratic harassment against Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus for not implementing Hon’ble High Court directions and recommendations issued by Ministry of Home Affairs regarding Job and Rehabilitation of the left out Community who chose to stay back in Kashmir Valley.

Engineer, academic and activist who sought to transform the relationship between human skill and technology