ISF statement on trade Union Strike

The Indian Staffing Federation is urging the Government to expedite the process towards fostering healthier, relevant, implementable and easy to understand labour laws which is the need of the hour. This is particularly relevant today in view of the two-day trade union strike that has hit the nation and is likely to cause a substantial loss to the Indian economy particularly sectors like transport, manufacturing, retail, healthcare and banking.
 
According ISF, an apex body of staffing industry in India, this strike is totally uncalled for. Apart from taking away livelihood of millions of Indians who depend on their daily earnings to make ends meet it shall do little to improve the regulatory environment in India. The demand raised by unions may be genuine but with over 90,000 approx trade unions in India, it is difficult to keep a tab on demands meted out through strikes. Most of their demands which include improving the working conditions in informal sector, minimum wage, social security, PF & bonus limit can only be addressed through labor law reforms which is the need of the hour especially in developing countries like India.
 
Reform is imperative to push the ‘undeclared work’ taking place currently outside the purview of the legal system towards a formal setup. Though our government is working towards protecting the interests of our workers, there is a need to take a critical look whether our regulatory framework has some parts which unnecessarily hamper the growth of employment, enterprise and industry without really contributing significantly to labor welfare.
ISF is seeking urgent attention of the stakeholders, the government and responsible trade unions to expedite its process towards fostering better labor laws which is the need of the hour in the wake of protests from the unions. This will encourage employment or employability attending to the needs of a wider workforce rather than protect the interests of those already protected in the formal sector.

In support of its stand,  the apex body of staffing companies in India has already presented a couple of papers to the State and Central ministers  to ensure that the recommendations are considered while doing various policy discussions that will lead to better labor law reforms. This will also lead to a higher growth rate of the staffing industry which currently is at 10-15%, thus generating more employability options for Indian youth in the formal sector.