Centre's new labour codes will destroy workers' rights, create uncertainty: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant on Saturday slammed the implementation of the Centre's four new labour codes, saying they would destroy the rights of workers and create uncertainty.

Speaking to reporters, Sawant, who heads the Sena (UBT) workers' wing, accused the government of aligning with capitalists and the rich.

The law has taken everything from certainty to uncertainty, he said, adding that the new codes will be challenged in the courts.

The Union government has notified the Industrial Relations Code-2020, the Occupational Safety, Health Code-2020, the Social Security Code-2020, and the Code on Wages, 2019, which have been pending since 2020, ushering in major reforms.

"The codes will destroy the lives of labourers and give them no certain rights. The Bharatiya Kamgar Sena will oppose the implementation of these codes," Sawant said.

Under the earlier law, any factory owner employing 100 workers needed permission from the state government to shut his unit, but the new code has raised the cap to 300, he said.

Sawant further said that when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in power, he had opposed any move to implement the codes in the state.

The government on Friday implemented the four codes, introducing worker-friendly measures such as a timely minimum wage for all and universal social security, including gig and platform workers, while allowing longer work hours, broader fixed-term employment, and employer-friendly retrenchment rules.

The codes have replaced 29 fragmented laws with a unified and modern framework.