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Trade unions witnessing decline across the world, says senior economist

2023-11-30 00:00:00.0 商业标准报-经济和政策原网页

Senior economist Pranab K Bardhan, on Thursday, said that persistent, well-funded campaigns by business interests have led to a systematic decline in trade unions and labour organisations across the world.

Addressing a lecture organised by Ideas for India, Bardhan said that governments and businesses have started to see trade unions as threats to stop innovation. “Business people seem to think of labour as a disposable cost, which has low bargaining power and can be squeezed for maximum profits,” he added.

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Speaking on the problems faced by trade unions, Bardhan said that an increase in the informal labour force is leading to a higher degree of labour fragmentation. “The appropriate step to stop fragmentation of workers is introducing universal basic income,” he added.

“Redirecting subsidies and tax exemptions from better-off people and introducing new slabs of taxation can help the government collect around 10 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). Even if one-fourth of this amount is allocated to providing universal basic income, it will help in bridging the gap between formal and informal labour,” Bardhan said.

Another problem being faced by trade unions is the rise in the concentration of capital in the hands of a few corporations, causing a situation where the market is dominated by only one player, he said. “This has led to a situation where there’s only one significant corporation hiring workers, and exploiting them in the absence of any trade unions,” he added.

Bardhan also pressed for the need for universal access to vocational training and active labour market policies for workers, to overcome labour fragmentation on the basis of formality and informality.

Explaining its importance, he said that there is already a big gulf between white-collar and blue-collar workers. These activities will make the demands of one section of workers resonate with other sectors.

Highlighting the cultural role of trade unions, Bardhan said that these are not just institutions of trade bargaining but also cultural anchors of shared identity, solidarity, and pride in work.