Vikant Sahay
vikant@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Contract workers engaged in the industrial sector are facing severe hardships as they are poorly paid since the State government has fixed very low wages for them, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has alleged.
Industrial workers in Goa are divided into two parts – the regular or permanent and contractual, casual or temporary basis.
There are around 1.5 lakh contract labourers in Goa cutting across all sectors, which is about 25 per cent of the total labour force in the State.
“High transportation and house rental costs are a major problem for the workers from outside Goa, who are already struggling to make their ends meet due to low payment. For the locals, it is a little easier as they have their own house to stay in. As a result, the liabilities of workers from outside Goa are much more. Also, many times these workers are not paid in time,” the AITUC General Secretary Christopher Fonseca told Herald.
When asked about Goan workers compared to other states, Christopher Fonseca responded that, “The workers in industrial sectors in Goa are not as organised as in the case of other states,” Fonseca said, highlighting the importance of a formally organised labour force.
Secretary of AITUC Suhaas Naik is of the view that in Goa there are two sets of industrial workers. “One set is called permanent and organized workers while the other is the contract workers. The permanent employees who are organized enjoy better facilities but those who are working on contract, casual and temporary basis are the most exploited ones.”
He further added that these contract workers are brought from the neighbouring States and are required to register under the Inter State Migrant Workers’ Act.
“However, many of them are not registered under this Act. The responsibility of this clearly lies with the Labour Commissioner, who has failed miserably. Secondly, these workers are not even paid the minimum wage and it has not been ensured by the labour inspecting authorities. The register shows that they are being paid Rs 307.72 as DA, but actually in hand they get much less,” said Suhaas Naik.
However, the Chairman of Industrial Relations (IR) and Human Resource (HR) Committee of the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) BT Boke believes that the condition is much better because earlier historically the contract labour used to be exploited by the various private employers and in government sectors and this was particularly rampant till 1970s.
“The Central government came up with a law called Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act which was passed in 1970. The labour laws came into force and things started to improve.
“On the occasion of International Labour Day, I feel, it is essential for all to remember the sacrifices of the labour leaders to improve the working conditions and ensuring safety, health and welfare facilities at workplace by living their ideals and dreams,” BT Boke, Chairman of IR and HR Committee of GCCI told Herald.
