7 September, 2010Indian central trade unions launch united front in calling upon the Government of India to ratify ILO core labour conventions and ensure abolition of child labour and the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
INDIA: At a national conference held from August 24 to 26 in New Delhi, Indian trade union centres, global union federations and the International Labour Organization called on the Indian government to ratify the remaining four ILO core labour conventions.
A resolution adopted by the conference called on the Government of India to immediately convene a tripartite dialogue and set the time frame to ratify ILO Convention No. 182 on Abolition of Child Labour by December 2010, Convention No. 138 on Minimum Working Age by December 2011, and Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining at the latest by June 2012.
The conference was organised by the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), with the support of ILO/ACTRAV, and included the participation of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and Global Union Federations such as International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) and Public Services International (PSI).
At the conference Dr. G Sanjeeva Reddy, President, INTUC and member of the IMF executive committee addressed the conference and stated that, "with the help of ILO, we need to find a solution and iron out the apprehensions of the government of India to ratify the core conventions. This will also put pressure on countries like the U.S. and China to ratify the core conventions."
The conference heard that India's failure to ratify the conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining has led to increased attacks on trade union rights and violation of labour laws.
The Indian trade union centres resolved to establish a united front to launch campaign activities for the ratification of the core conventions. The ILO representatives present at the conference expressed full commitment to providing assistance to the Government of India in this process. ^
See the IMF report from the conference for more details.