'Trade unions not at fault, neo-liberal policies are': CITU, AITUC slam CJI’s remarks on industry slowdown

New Delhi: CPI(M)-backed CITU and CPI-affiliated AITUC on Friday took exception to Chief Justice of India Suryakant’s remarks that trade unionism was largely responsible for hurting India’s industrial growth, saying it “resembled the political-economic illogic” of the Modi government and was “misreading” economic realities.

Urging the CJI to withdraw the remarks made while dismissing a petition by ‘Penn Thozhilalargal Sangam’ seeking minimum wages for domestic workers, the unions said the “outrage” over the statement will “sweep across the country and be forcefully expressed” during the nationwide General Strike on February 12. 

CITU General Secretary Elamaram Kareem told reporters, “the most unfortunate and unconstitutional remarks of the CJI appear to resemble those of the advocates of already failed neo-liberal policies and the political-economic illogic of the Modi government.” 

Putting the blame on trade unions for industrial closures is “totally divorced from factual reality” as Labour Bureau’s reports on ‘Industrial Disputes, Closures, Retrenchments and Lay-offs in India showed that there is a significant decline in industrial disputes, reaching a 17-year-low of 30 in 2023, marking a “stark contrast to 430 in 2006.

“The phenomenon of industrial closures, both legal and illegal, if examined closely, would reveal that the incidence of closures is much higher in states where the trade union movement is visibly weak or minimal,” he said.

Referring to the government’s submission in Parliament, he said 2.04 lakh private companies were closed over five years due to amalgamation, conversion, dissolution, or being struck off under the Companies Act, 2013. 

“It is not industrial disputes by trade unions that are forcing industrial units to close down. It is the crisis within the capitalist neoliberal order and the unbridled concentration and financialisation of the economy, at the cost of the MSME and the productive sector as a whole, that have led to increasing industrial closures. Trade unions can in no way be made a scapegoat to cover up the failure of the policy regime and economic governance,” Kareem said.

AITUC General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur said refusal to entertain a plea seeking minimum wages for domestic workers was “deeply concerning, profoundly disturbing and inconsistent” with the constitutional mandate of social justice, equality, and dignity of labour. 

Kaur said trade unions are not obstacles to economic development but are democratic institutions recognised by the Constitution to safeguard the dignity, livelihood, and rights of workers. “To portray trade union activity as a cause of industrial stagnation is to misread economic realities and ignore the destructive consequences of pro-corporate policies resulting in unchecked corporate concentration,” she said.

“By echoing narratives that blame the legitimate struggles of the workers while remaining silent on policy-driven exploitation and neoliberal restructuring, such remarks objectively align with the anti-worker forces and risk providing judicial legitimacy to an ongoing class offensive against labour and the people,” she said.

She said it is a cause of deep concern that the CJI’s remarks “completely ignore the historic and substantive contribution” of trade unions in the national freedom movement  and in nation-building since Independence. 

“To portray trade unionism as an obstacle to progress is to erase this legacy and disregard the role of organised labour in building public sector institutions, expanding industrial capacity, and ensuring that economic growth serves social needs rather than narrow corporate interests,” she said.

Such a narrow and historically blind view coming from the high office of judiciary is very unbecoming of the judiciary, Kaur added.