2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 5

Aurobindo Pharma suspends 31 union supporters, harasses workers seeking collective agreement:

In 2014, Aurobindo Pharma's Pydibhimavaram plant in Srikakulam district suspended five union leaders and 26 workers, and prejudiced the employment of many others through unlawful transfers and unsubstantiated legal claims. The company management also harassed workers when they asked for a wage agreement and denied the workers entry to the plant on 26 October 2014.

This discrimination and harassment followed the company's delay of the union's registration in 2013, for which the workers had to protest for almost 83 days.

In response to the harassment of union leaders and members, the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) staged protests at a number of the company's district collectorates on 24 November 2014.

IFTU leader Mr Venkateswarlu called on the government to direct the company to roll back the illegal transfers, suspensions, dismissals of workers and take back illegal cases against the leaders unconditionally. "The Aurobindo Pharma management should allow workers for duties without asking for any undertakings or putting pressure on them. The only crime of the workers is forming a union one-and-a-half years ago," he said.

Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights (OPDR) state secretary C Bhaskara Rao alleged that the Aurobindo management denied workers their right to form a union. "The workers formed a union to secure their jobs and rights but the company management has been continuously harassing the workers. It also refused to accept the charter of demands put forth by the workers. It neither discussed the demands of the workers nor denied them and instead prolonged the issue while harassing the workers," he alleged.

Report reveals widespread abuse of workers' rights in South Indian textile industry:

The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and The India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) published a report titled Flawed Fabrics: The abuse of girls and women workers in the South Indian textile industry in October 2014. Among a wide range of labour rights abuses, the report made the following observations with respect to the ability of workers in the industry to exercise their right to freedom of association:

  • The level of unionisation in the Indian garment industry is very low. There were no unions active in any of the 5 textile mills investigated for the report, and not one of the interviewed workers were trade union members.

  • Trade unions face widely prevalent prejudice and restrictions at the stages of formation, registration and operation. The report states: "Criminalisation, threats against labour activists or striking workers, violence against union members, as well as against NGOs, is common practice".

  • The report describes the notion of freedom of association as "a dead letter" for women in the industry: "In fact, none of the interviewed workers know what a trade union is, nor are they aware that they have the right to join one."

  • The workers in the industry, many of whom are migrant workers, have little to interaction with the outside world, let alone with trade unions or labour advocates. One worker interviewed said: "we have no outside contact so how could we ever join a trade union?"

  • Several workers interviewed expressed the understanding that women could not join trade unions.

  • Others indicated that workers who expressed a desire to join a union were likely to be dismissed.


The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.

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