Lack of political consensus on issues relating to labour is the chief constraint in labour law reform, labour secretary Vinod Vaish said here today. Speaking at a seminar on labour laws and competitiveness organised by Ficci , Vaish said that all talk of labour law reform was viewed with suspicion both by trade union and political parties, and neither realised that in order to be competitive , there was need to be flexible. Vaish clarified that he was speaking in his personal capacity. He also said that reform could be carried out via the parliamentary path only if there was consensus that such reform was necessary.
The main speaker at the seminar, Prof Charles Baird, from the California State University, Hayward, said the USA had realised that to be competitive, businesses had to be productive. Yet, under President Bill Clinton, the US had passed a law where US traders had to give a six month warning to workers before they decided to close down their business.
Baird said that this was akin to the kind of laws India had to protect labour. In a situation where the government carried out most of the business in an economy, democracy and the right of the people to choice came under a strain, he said.
Baird pointed out that when Dr Manmohan Singh was finance minister, it was he who had suggested India formulate an exit policy to encourage investment. "Now he won't even look at a proposal reducing employee strength" Baird said.
Labour leader SL Passey, for many years, secretary of Intuc, said that trade unions had to accept that labour laws had to create competitiveness. He pointed out that despite laws, the Indian landscape was littered with graveyards of industry.
Passey said he was convinced that tripartism hadn't worked and that the only way labour problems could be resolved was by the employee and employer sitting across a table, without involving a third party.
