The 42nd Indian Labour Conference has asked for strict implementation of labour laws for retrenchments and closures and recommended a broad-based social security scheme, including employment insurance, to take care of the workers affected by the ongoing economic slowdown.
The two-day conference, which is a tripartite forum for industry, workers’ unions and the government, focused on issues related to the slowdown, besides contract labour and working conditions of sales representatives, and asked industries to reinvent themselves as centres for skill development and training.
The conference, led by Labour Secretary Sudha Pillai and Special Secretary S Krishnan, and attended by trade unions and representatives of several employers bodies suggested a two-pronged strategy for tackling the impact of the slowdown. Among the short-term measures, it suggested a quarterly assessment survey of the impact on employment, including in the unorganised sector.
It also asked for concessional credit for small and medium units besides extension of the employment guarantee scheme to urban areas.