--classstrugggle-flipmag classstruggle-jun-july-2019-flippmag | Seite 23

periods of occupational ill-health
and sickness. W e have been
witnessing numerous work-place
accidents where a considerable
number of workers are being killed
without any safety protection or
being disabled in work-place
accidents and the managements
are blatantly evading of paying
compensations to the deceased or
disabled workers in the work-place
accidents unwilling to pay
compensation according to
workman’s compensation act.
They want to totally avoid from their
legal liability and responsibility for
work-place accidents and sickness.
So now with the present law the
compensations and entitlements of
workers are being reduced to a
lowest level, changing the working
conditions rules making the
workman responsible for his own
safety.
The trade and industry had
been demanding for flexibility in the
hire and fire policy. This has been
their key demand. Added to this
they are claiming that to provide
social security to workers in the
form of E.S.I, provident fund,
gratuity etc and that it was a burden
to them. They argue that with such
responsibility of social security to
workers they are unable to
compete efficiently in world
markets.
Already in May 2019, the
government to lessen the cost
burden of employers, had decided
to reduce the total rate of
contribution towards E.S.I. scheme
from 6.5%n to 4% and thus
provided a relief to the employers
to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore to Rs
9,000 crore, who have to make a
contribution for employees earning
below Rs 21,000 a month towards
E.S.I.
Very recently the finance
ministry has demanded the social
security and pension fund cuts the
8.65% annual return on E.P.F. to
June,July - 2019
8.55% which was announced just
before recent April-May general
elections by the E.P.F.O which is
administrated by the labour
ministry.
In this back ground the code
on social security will erase the
rightful entitlements of workers of
their E.S.I., P.F., gratuity and
pensions to be borne by the
industrial managements and
employers lessening their onus of
paying contributions to those social
security schemes to the workers.
The workers themselves will be
made to provide their own social
security in way of paying
contributions from their own paltry
wages. The governments and
employers cease from such social
security responsibilities.
The code of industrial relations
in accordance with the draft-moots
to do away the legal right of strike
of workers and legal protection of
job security from indiscriminate terminations, illegal dismissals, lay-
offs and industry closures allows
the employers to terminate workers
according to their whims. The right
of 8 hours work a day is being
abolished. Restriction on work
hours is being removed. Workers
are made to work for unlimited
hours in a week, for over time
without any additional pay for the
overtime work for which they are
presently entitled. Women workers
are permitted to work in night times
from 7 P.M to 7 A.M in nights without
any restrictions.
In essence all these labour
reforms and codes do not come to
the rescue of the work men, but
come handy to benefit to the
employers to exploit workers
unrestricted or controlled by the
law. The statutory guarantee of
workers right against exploitation is
being removed lawfully with these
4 labour codes.
contd. on page 15
contd from page 24 Act for selling it off conveniently.
The same violations and
tamperings are resorted to by the
rich and landlord classes in other
states too to illegally grab the lands.
The rural masses of exploited and
oppressed people in India who are
engaged in struggle in defence of
their lands from the illegal, forcible
grabbing, atrocities, attacks and
massacres by the landlords, rich
classes and influential people must
realize the need to root out the
semi-feudal system in our Country
through an agrarian revolution with
land to the tiller as its central slogan
and herald the New Democratic
Revolution in success. This alone
will put an end to their problems
once forever.
THE CLASS STRUGGLE
condemns the ghastly Sonbhadra
massacre of Gond tribal people and
stands in solidarity with their
struggle for justice and reassertion
of their inalienable right over the
land.

that in UP around 6 % of the total
forest land of UP-one lakh hectare
– is under the illegal occupation
and possession of big guns not
only of UP but also from adjoinin
states since 1987. These forest
lands are rich in mineral wealth like
bauxite, lime stone, coal, etc.
Sonbhadra attracts land grabbers
from other states also. A report of
former Chief Forest Conservator in
2014 pointed out that most of the
offices in the district manage to get
so much land that several of their
generations reap its benefits. This
is possible only with strong nexus
between politicians, forest and
revenue officials.
Before
taking
illegal
possession of the forest land, it was
declared as non-forest land
through tampering of the land
records. Subsequently, the land is
shown as transferable in gross
violation of Forest Conservation
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