LAW FOR ALL

Adequate shelter and services are a basic human right which places an obligation on governments to ensure their attainment by all people".

- UN Declaration on Human Settlement, 1976

"The right to security of place recognises the importance of tenure rights (for
tenants, owners and those too poor to rent or buy a home) and the critical right to be protected against any arbitrary or forced eviction from one's home".

- Mary Robinson, UN Commissioner for Human Rights, March 1999

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution recognises the "right to life," and the Supreme Court of India has interpreted that to mean:

…including the right to live with human dignity and all that goes along with it, namely the bare necessities of life such as adequate nutrition, clothing and shelter.

Shelter is fundamental to human rights. Lack of adequate shelter affects, directly or indirectly, all of these other rights:

• Right to an adequate standard of living
• Right of access to safe drinking water and sanitation
• Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
• Right to a safe and healthy environment
• Right of the child to an environment appropriate for physical and mental development
• Right of access to resources, including for cooking, heating and lighting
• Right to freedom from discrimination in access to housing and related services based on sex, race or any other status
• Right to choose where and how to live and to freedom of movement
• Right to privacy
• Right to security, including security of tenure
• Right to protection from forced eviction and from the destruction/demolition of one's home in all situations, including military occupation, armed conflict, establishment and construction of alien settlements, population transfer and development projects
• Right to equal protection of the law and judicial remedies for the redress of the violation of the human right to adequate housing.

"Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment".

- Article 23, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Guidelines on right to work cover, among other things, safety and security at work and the health and welfare of workers. There are rules governing child labour. In the Indian Constitution, the right to work is set out in the Directive Principles of State Policy and it is a non-justiciable right - i.e. the courts have no role to play in its enforcement. Labour is in the Concurrent list, meaning that both the Central and State governments are competent to enact legislation, although certain matters are reserved for Delhi.

The Ministry of Labour lists its main thrust areas:

• Labour policy and legislation
• Safety, health and welfare of labour
• Social security
• Policy relating to special target groups such as women and child labour
• Industrial relations and enforcement of labour laws in the central sphere
• Workers' education
• Employment services and vocational training

Indian Labour Laws

India is a member of the International Labour Union and complies with conventions it has ratified. Comprehensive labour legislation to provide a good working environment includes the following important laws, many of which have been flouted in the stories above.

Industrial relations are regulated by the Industrial Disputes Act, which provides for just and equitable settlement of disputes through negotiations, conciliation, arbitration or adjudication.

The Factories Act,1948, regulates working conditions in factories. The Act prescribes minimum standards for working conditions and facilities related to manufacturing processes, including the handling and storage of materials, discharge of effluents, fire precautions, working hours and health facilities.

The Minimum Wages Act,1948, gives government the power to fix wages and working conditions in certain specified sectors.

The Employees' State Insurance Act covers sickness, maternity and employment-related injuries and applies to workers with low wages.

It's also worth looking at the Payment of Bonus Act,1956; the Payment of Gratuity Act; and the Employees Provident Fund Act, which are also relevant.

In addition to these, several states have enacted Shops and Establishments Acts which regulate working hours, prescribe minimum standards of working conditions and provide for overtime and leave salary payments to workers in certain categories of shops and other establishments.

The very large number of people without employment in India has a role in all this. It creates a strong feeling of vulnerability and insecurity among those who do have jobs, making them reluctant to fight for individual rights. More often, they seek strength in numbers and the help of strong unions to fight for common benefits. Another important factor is that in India only 10 per cent of the workforce is in the organised sector. To the majority, labour standards are of distant relevance.

Declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work

This Declaration, adopted in June 1998 by the International Labour Conference, is a pledge by all members of the International Labour Organisation to respect, promote and realise in good faith principles and rights relating to:

Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining
The elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour
The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Safety at Work

According to the World Health Organisation, occupational accidents account for more than 120 million injuries and 220,000 deaths every year. There are about 160 million cases a year of occupational disease caused by exposure to physical, chemical and biological hazards - the most common include repetitive motion injuries, mechanical stress from heavy labour and pesticide poisoning. The risk of disease and injury is increased by chronic parasitic infections, lack of access to potable water, malnutrition, illiteracy and poverty.

Only 5-10 per cent of workers in developing countries and 20 - 50 per cent from industrialised countries have access to adequate occupational healthcare services.

Discrimination

In 1997, there were 4,210 cases of harassment of trade union workers reported to the International Confederation of Free Trades Unions, 2,330 arrests or detention of trade unionists for union-related activities and 299 trade unionists were murdered. Harassment ranged from intimidation of workers lobbying for safer working conditions to sex discrimination of women workers for so-called medical reasons. (For information on Safety of Women in the Workplace refer to section on discrimination against women).

ILO Convention No.87 protects workers' rights relating to trade unions, health and safety but over half the world's working population live in countries such as India, China and the USA which have not ratified the convention.

Source: The Lancet article by Timothy H.Holtz.

New Trade Union Initiatives(NTUI), a National Federation of Independent and Non-Party Trade Unions, is Formally Formed with its all structures.It focuses on Un-organized workers preferably.

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