COVID-19 and alarming reforms on Indian labour laws

The COVID-19 crisis has a devastating effect on workers in India, especially as in response the Indian central government and various state governments are in a process of weakening labour laws. Workers’ rights are in danger and labour unions organise mass protests. You can find more information on this in a statement from the joint platform of Central Trade Unions in India. Reliable information on the situation on the ground seems hard to come by, which is why Mondiaal FNV & Arisa decided to act quickly and bring together the right people for an online conversation. And you can help as well.

The right people

The Expert Webinar we hosted yesterday continues to preoccupy my mind. Mondiaal FNV & Arisa have a network of legitimate stakeholders in India – ranging from big trade union centres to grassroots NGOs. We were able to give their representatives a voice in an online conversation with Dutch stakeholders, from business, the financial sector, policy makers and civil society. While the information on the current situation in India is alarming indeed, it still felt inspiring to witness the sincere exchange that took place. It was a display of mutual understanding, respect and each participant's willingness to act on this from within their own sphere of influence.

For me it was particularly special to receive messages from both Indian and Dutch participants afterwards that reflected very positively on the event. 

The right time

As I write this, the idea for this event originated not even 3 weeks ago and given the urgency of the topic we decided to be ambitious and schedule it before July. Strangely, we have the current crisis to thank for this being feasible at all, with most people now being very familiar with online events. That being said, this would not have been possible without Tertium helping us out on the production side. 

Special thanks to MEP Lara Wolters, Jef Wintermans from the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments and Textile and other speakers for recognizing the importance of this topic and reflecting on the situation from your perspective. Many other people also deserve to be mentioned for their valuable contributions. Regrettably, the issues discussed are considered very sensitive, so I am reluctant to do so - just to be safe.

This sensitivity is also why we have not released more content from the webinar as of now. We will do so after careful consideration and in coordination with the speakers, so stay tuned for more in-depth material.

Update: videos from the event

What can you do?

Want to help out our Indian colleagues? There is little time to waste. International trade unions have launched a campaign, calling to withdraw the changes to labour laws which violate rights at work. You can send this prepared statement yourself, which only takes a minute.

If you have questions or comments, don't hesitate to send me a message or leave a comment below.