by Paula Määttä

VIII. India

E. The role of the social partners

1. Trade union system

In India, there is a three-tier system in workers organizations. There are unions at the factory and establishment level, which in turn have local (city or regional) associations. The fedrations at the apex are at the all India level. These federations are associated with one of the several political parties. However, not every factory and establishment level union is linked in a hierarchal structure with an apex federation. They may be independent or have local level associations only. Most small establishments have no unions. (Acharya 1995, 14.)

The services sector in the non-commercial sphere (government servants, teachers, and health workers) is affiliated with the workers unions, but have formed their own unions, which may also have political party affiliations through regional and national federations. Moreover, workers from agriculture, the unorganised manufacturing sectors and the small services establishments are not necessarily keen to form larger affiliating bodies. Among the main reasons that the Equal Remuneration Act is not being effectively implemented is the small size of the labour force actually in the organised or protected sectors. (Acharya 1995, 14-15.)

In Maharashtra State, for example, there are many trade unions, such as: the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), a confederation of unions associated with the Communist Party of India, and which has 130 unions and about 100000 members in Maharashtra; the Lal Nishan (LN), active in rural areas, which is a regional independent trade union associated with the liberal and left parties, and which has 30 unions and 0.3 million members; the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), active in urban areas, which is a conglomerate consisting of 364 unions, has a membership of about 0.39 million, and is associated with the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party; the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), which is a conglomeration of 133 trade unions, has a membership of 1.1 million workers, and is affiliated with the centrist liberal Janata Party; the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which has 73 unions, amembership of about 75 000 workers, and which is an affiliate of the Communist Party; and Teachers Associations. (Acharya 1995, 17-27.)

2. Equal pay policy

In Maharashtra State, according to the AITUC, the implementation of equal pay is difficult in industries such as the garment, packing and pharmaceutical industries because the unions are unable to pursue cases due to the difficulty of obtaining proof that the legislation has been contravened. One reason for this is that information systems are weak on numbers, payments, and recording contractual terms. The CITU also puts emphasis on problems of obtaining proof. Because of the difficulty of obtaining evidence and the slowness of court procedures, unions prefer to enter into bilateral negotiations with employers. (Acharya 1995, 16-19, 22.)

There is no womens wing in the AITUC, nor are women represented in the managing committees. The BMS has a womens wing. It also insists on women representatives being present during arbitration where gender issues are involved. The BMS also collaborates with other womens voluntary organisations. The HMS has a special womens wing whose activities include seminars and the production of publications. The CITU has an apex womens coordination committee but there is no women workers alliance across industries or geographic regions. The womens wing is weak in Maharashtra compared to elsewhere in India. (Acharya 1995, 16-19, 23.)

The LN has established alliances with organisatons such as the Stree Mukti Sangathana ("Womens Emancipation Front") to combat some of the problems relating to women workers. The difficulty is that womens organisations are more committed to problems relating to womens human rights, wife abuse, property disputes and the like, but lack time to concentrate attention on the trade union work. (Acharya 1995, 21-22.)

The CITU has stated that there are still many shortcomings in the implementation of the Equal Remuneration Act. It has also mentioned that, in certain industries, employers use a piece-rate system to avoid paying equal wages for womens work, or else claim that the work performed by women is of a different nature to that performed by men, even when the nature of the work is in essence the same or similar. This explains why women workers in beedi, construction, garment, agriculture and other industries continue to get lower wages than male workers. Thus, § 16 of the Act, which provides for the exclusion from the ambit of the Act of workers on the basis that the differences in remuneration are based on factors other than sex, may be invoked. This has occurred, for example, in relation to wage differentials between air hostesses and flight stewards (Notification No S.O. 2257, 15 June 1979.