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print versionEconomic and Political Weekly, Vol. 21, No. 48 (Nov. 29, 1986)
’Contract Labour in a Steel Plant: A Study for a Trade Union’
by A Group of Researchers
Abstract
Contractual production has been increasing steadily in even the most organised sectors, in the most modern industries as well as in the public sector which boasts of being a ’model employer’. Since the sixties the government policy has been definitely favourable to the growth of this archaic system. Contract labour which accounts for a significant proportion of the total labour force in the large-scale industries is also the most disgruntled and the most militant. The contract labour force often consists predominantly of depressed sections of society and populist movements in the region often find good support here. In 1982 there were over 11,600 contract labourers working in the Rourkela steel plant in different jobs such as loading and unloading, metallurgical maintenance, cleaning of machinery and miscellaneous other low grade tasks. This sample study of 155 workers not only draws attention to the poor conditions of work but also to some of the contradictions which trade unions face in making demands appropriate to contract labour.
http://www.epw.in/review-management/contract-labour-steel-plant-study-trade-union.html
