Thiruvananthapuram | Senior CPI(M) leader and former Labour Minister V Sivankutty on Sunday strongly criticised the alleged retrenchment of 850 employees by a US-based IT company from its offices in Kochi and Kozhikode, claiming it reflected the impact of the new labour codes introduced by the Centre.
The medical coding employees were laid off by the company on Friday.
Following the retrenchment, Labour Minister Bindhu Krishna intervened and directed the company to keep the layoffs in abeyance.
She has convened a meeting with the Kerala Labour Commissioner on Monday.
The terminated employees said they had been offered compensation by the company, but maintained that they wanted their jobs back rather than compensation.
Addressing a press conference here, Sivankutty, who is the state secretary of Left trade union CITU, said the mass layoffs reflected the Centre's attempt to weaken job security through the new labour codes, which raised the threshold for mandatory government approval for retrenchment and closure of establishments from 100 workers to 300.
"The retrenchment of over 850 employees by the IT company is highly condemnable. Such unilateral dismissals in violation of labour laws will not be accepted in a state like Kerala," he said.
Sivankutty said CITU would launch strong protests against what it termed anti-worker measures in the IT and IT-enabled services sectors in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
"The absence of strong trade union movements in the IT and IT-enabled sectors has emboldened managements to resort to anti-worker practices. Strong trade unions are essential to protect the rights of workers in these sectors," he said.
The CITU leader said that as the new labour codes have not yet come into force, workers have the right to challenge such retrenchments under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
He alleged that the company had retrenched employees without obtaining the mandatory prior permission from the government under Chapter V-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, making the action illegal.
"The management has violated the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act. CITU will raise an industrial dispute before the Labour Commissioner and labour courts and seek reinstatement of the workers," he said.
Sivankutty urged the state government to act on the recommendations of the Justice V Gopala Gowda Committee, which had been appointed by the previous LDF government to study the implications of the central labour codes.
"The committee has made it clear that states have sufficient constitutional powers to enact laws and rules providing greater protection and benefits to workers. The Kerala government should take immediate steps based on its recommendations," he said.
He said labour department officials should also remain vigilant to safeguard workers' interests.
Sivankutty also criticised Chief Minister VD Satheesan's recent remarks in the Assembly on migrant workers, saying they were insulting and contrary to Kerala's labour culture.
"The chief minister's remarks describing migrant workers in terms of their states and suggesting they are responsible for reverse remittances are unfortunate and unacceptable," he said.
He said migrant workers were not taking money from Kerala without contributing, but were earning lawful wages through hard work.
Drawing a parallel with Kerala people working abroad, Sivankutty said it was contradictory to take pride in Keralites working in other states and countries while portraying migrant workers in Kerala as an economic burden.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim described the layoffs as an eye-opener for Kerala and blamed the Centre's labour codes for the development.
"This is an indication of the impact of the anti-worker labour codes introduced by the Modi government. The company got the confidence to terminate these employees because of the labour codes," he said.
Rahim urged the state government not to remain a mute spectator to the issue.
"The state government should be ready for a legal and democratic fight on this issue," he said.
Rahim said he had spoken to some of the terminated employees and that the CPI(M) would soon hold a meeting with them.
He alleged that the retrenchment was not confined to a single unit and that several managers in the company had been assigned to terminate employees.
"The problem is that the labour codes are not employee-oriented. Since labour is in the Concurrent List, the state government should intervene," he said.
Rahim asserted that such "illegal" actions would not be allowed in Kerala and said the issue should not be viewed as one confined to a single company.
