10 April, 2011
A long and drawn out court battle in Chhattisgarh state, India, saw exploited contract workers of Holcim Cement again win regularisation of their jobs in March through a High Court appeals ruling. But Holcim Cement of Switzerland is refusing to implement the court’s order.
The result is that hundreds of contract workers at one of Holcim’s Indian subsidiaries, Associated Cement Co. Ltd. (ACC), and supporters are staging an ongoing “dharna,” or strike at the Bhilai Industrial Estate statue of Shankar Guha Niyogi, the legendary workers’ leader and founder of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) political party who was assassinated in 1991.
Shankar Guha Niyogi
The CMM-associated labour union Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh is carrying the struggle for the contract workers, much like Niyogi did for irregular workers in mining, metalworking, and textiles three decades ago.
The rightful fight for contract workers at ACC Jamul Cement to gain full wages, provident fund benefits, and even proper safety equipment dates back nearly 20 years. Holcim bought controlling interest in ACC and Ambuja Cement in 2006-2007 and has continued resistance to the legitimate rights of contract workers at its Indian cement plants.
In 2006, an Industrial Court ruled that some 573 contract workers at ACC Jamul, many subsequently fired, must be made regular employees, with their wages and working conditions tied to the Cement Wage Board, or the Nevatia Award. Holcim, Lafarge, the Aditya Birla Group’s Ultratech, and other major cement producers are tied to the Wage Board by hard fought strikes of the past.
The Wage Board agreement has tight restrictions on the use of contract labour, limiting it to loading and unloading raw materials but with pay at the same rate as permanent workers.
Holcim defied the Industrial Court’s ruling by paying only between two-to-five days salary per month – at US$2 per day – because that is how few days contract workers were on the job at the time of the Industrial Court filing because Holcim was trying to get them to resign.
Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh filed a writ petition with the High Court, and that portion of litigation is still pending. However, on 21 March, the High Court did rule that the paper arrangements between irregular workers and Holcim are “sham and bogus” and directed management to regularise over 100 contract workers. However, the ruling neglected to recognise the rights of about 400 who were coerced into accepting voluntary resignations.
India is the world’s second largest cement producer behind China. The country has an annual growth rate in cement of 11%, which has seen the leading cement producers make major investments and acquisitions.
But multinationals like Holcim and Lafarge are doing nothing to stabilise employment and bring decent work to rural people who are recruited and then exploited as contract workers. Alone in Chhattisgarh state in central India, it is estimated that 3,200 permanent workers are employed in the cement industry, while 11,000 others toil as short-term, expendable contract workers.