A Human Rights Project on Migrant Workers of Gujarat on account of Recent incident in gujarat

1. RESEARCH PROJECT
ON
Human Rights of Migrant Workers – GUJARAT
Submitted By
Sunita Jaiswar
Amity Business School
B.COM(H), SEM V
BCOM1602
Submitted to
Prof. Rishi Sir

2. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................3
ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................................................6
LEGAL PROVISIONS .........................................................................................................................12
Constitutional Laws .......................................................................................................................15
International Convention..............................................................................................................17
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................18
United States (US)...........................................................................................................................18
CASE LAW ..........................................................................................................................................21
Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Education...............................................................................................21
FACTS............................................................................................................................................21
ISSUES ...........................................................................................................................................21
DECISION .....................................................................................................................................21
CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................................23
RECOMMENDATION/SUGGESTIONS ..........................................................................................25

3. INTRODUCTION
According to the State of World Population report, more than half of the
world’s population lives in urban areas, and the number is steadily growing
every year. India, where the majority of the population is still dependent on
agriculture, is no exception to this trend. As per the census, the level of
urbanization in India has increased from 27.81% in 2001 to 31.16% in 2011.
Urbanization in India is a consequence of demographic explosion and poverty-
induced rural-urban migration.
The Economic Survey of India 2017 estimates that the magnitude of inter-state
migration in India was close to 9 million annually between 2011 and 2016,
while Census 2011 pegs the total number of internal migrants in the country
(accounting for inter- and intra-state movement) at a staggering 139 million.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the biggest source states, followed closely by
Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and
West Bengal; the major destination states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
Ahmedabad, which is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in India with a
population of over 6 million, is an important economic and industrial hub. There
are approximately 1.3 to 1.7 million labour migrants in the city. They come
from all directions in north, west and eastern India. Over the years they have
come to be identified with specific sectors – tribal migrants from Madhya
Pradesh and Rajasthan form the construction workforce; seasonal migrants from
Bihar are head-loaders and cart pushers; migrants from Uttar Pradesh dominate
as factory workers and drivers; Oriyas are mostly associated with plumbing
work, and the diamond cutting industry is made up of people from Saurashtra.
A large majority of them hail from historically marginalized groups such as

4. the SCs and STs, which adds an additional layer of vulnerability to their urban
experiences.
These seasonal migrant workers have carved spaces for themselves in the most
inhospitable places in Ahmedabad. The choices are varied: rented rooms, open
spaces, slums, pavements, worksites, etc. While the rented rooms are severely
congested, open spaces are insecure arrangements exposed to the public gaze
and eviction drives by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The most
vulnerable of these are the seasonal migrant workers who live on the worksites
themselves – while it helps them save money, it also makes them available for
work 24 hours a day.
Migration from different parts of the country to the city of Ahmedabad has
formed numerous channels of exploitation. Recruited from villages through an
elaborate network of contractors, migrant workers end up being a vulnerable
workforce that can be subjugated and disciplined easily. The system has become
so openly abusive and brutal that migrants find it easier to find work in other
states rather than in their own. The contract labour system and a loose
monitoring and regulating state apparatus has only helped strengthen these
unfair models and practices in the migrant job market.
After protests broke out over the rape of a 14-month-old girl in Gujarat,
hundreds of migrant workers are allegedly fleeing the state fearing a backlash.
Migrants have been attacked after one of the accused in the rape case turned out
to be a migrant worker from Bihar.
A mob attacked at least 15 migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the
Waghodia district in Vadodara.
The police have said that they have arrested 342 people in connection with the
violence.
Six districts have mainly been affected (by the violence), with Mehsana and
Sabarkantha being the worst hit. In these districts, 42 cases have been lodged

5. and so far police have arrested 342 accused. More arrests will be made as names
of the accused come up during investigation.
The police said that a message has been doing the rounds in the area, provoking
people.
A provocative message had been doing rounds on a social media messaging app
to instigate the mob against migrant workers. These messages were based on the
recent rape case in Sabarkantha and exploited the sentiment that workers from
outside were taking away job opportunities. There have also been calls for a
Waghodia bandh on Monday. Officers have strengthened security and patrolling
to avoid any untoward incident."
Meanwhile, the incidents of violence have created fear among Vadodara's
migrant workers, many of whom are reportedly leaving the state.1
1 Chandra Bhatnagar, Senior Staff Attorney, (DECEMBER 18, 2009, 11:57 AM), ACLU
HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM,
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/human-rights-abuse-plain-sight-migrant-
workers-us.

6. ANALYSIS
A violent backlash against non-Gujaratis following the arrest of a Bihar native
for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district last
week has sparked an exodus of migrant workers hailing from Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. Many UP and Bihar labourers on Thursday boarded home-bound trains
after north Indians were targeted in several parts of the state following the arrest
of the suspect.
They said there was an “atmosphere of fear and mistrust” across Gandhinagar,
Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts of Gujarat following the violence
allegedly sparked by the Kshatriya Thakor Sena (KTS) campaign against
migrants.
“We do not want to risk our lives. We have been hearing stories about migrant
labourers being attacked,” Ajay Sao, who was among those headed home, told
HT over phone. Sao, a 23-year-old resident of Bhojpur, had been working in a
restaurant at Mehsana for three years.
Director General of Police Shivanand Jha said such attacks have taken place in
Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha, Patan and Ahmedabad districts in the last
one week and 170 people have been arrested in connection with the incidents.
The attacks took place after hate messages against non-Gujaratis, particularly
those from Bihar and UP, were circulated on social media, he told reporters in
Ahmedabad on Friday.
On September 28, a 14-month-old girl was allegedly raped in a village of
Sabarkantha district, around 100 km from Ahmedabad, the police had said.
The toddler, who is from the Thakor community, has been admitted to the civil
hospital in Ahmedabad where her condition is stated to be stable. Accused
Ravindra Sahu, a labourer hailing from Bihar and working in a local ceramic
factory, near Vadnagar town of Mehsana district, was arrested the same day for
the toddler's rape, the police had said.

7. On of the persons who was apparently attacked claimed Friday some non-
Gujaratis were going back to their native places.
"We were attacked by Thakor Sena members last night at Kalol town of
Gandhinagar. This is injustice to us. That is why we are going back to our
native places as we feel unsafe here," the person from Madhya Pradesh before
boarding a bus claimed.
Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, who heads the Kshatriya Thakor Sena, appealed
to his community and members of his outfit, who were allegedly involved in the
attacks, to maintain peace, saying non-Gujaratis are also our “brothers”.
According to a PTI report, a 200-strong mob, allegedly led by Thakor Sena
members, stormed a factory near Vadnagar town of Mehsana district on October
2 and thrashed two employees. Following the incident, 20 people were arrested
on charges of rioting, an official of Mehsana Police had said.
Addressing reporters, Jha said around 18 FIRs were lodged in different districts
of Gujarat so far following the attacks on non-Gujaratis.
"We have also arrested 170 persons. We will not allow such activities at any
cost. We have instructed local police to increase vigil at factories and (housing)
societies having a good number of non-Gujaratis. We are also keeping a watch
on social media messages," he said.2
After it came to light that the rape accused hailed from Bihar, the Kshatriya
Thakor Sena said migrant workers from other states should not be given jobs in
Gujarat.
2 Gopi Maniar, (October 7, 2018 16:14 IST), INDIA TODAY,
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sabarkantha-rape-hundreds-flee-gujarat-as-locals-
turn-against-migrants-from-bihar-up-after-minors-rape-1357893-2018-10-07.

8. A 200-strong mob, allegedly led by Thakor Sena members, stormed a factory
near Vadnagar town of Mehsana district on October 2 and thrashed two
employees. Following the incident, 20 people were arrested on charges of
rioting, an official of Mehsana Police had said.3
"Since the accused is from Bihar and the victim belongs to the Thakor
community, some elements are spreading misleading messages on social
media," Inspector General (Gandhinagar Range) Mayanksinh Chavda said.
On October 3, a mob allegedly comprising Thakor community members
engaged in vandalism in Chandlodia area of Ahmedabad, demanding people
from North India leave the city, said the police.
"Some Thakor youths damaged vehicles and handcarts of North Indians living
in that area. These accused were not officially attached with the Thakor Sena,
but they are from that community. We have arrested 10 of them," Police
Inspector of Sola (Ahmedabad district) D H Gadhvi said.
Several attacks had taken place in Mehsana district during the last few days,
which led to the arrest of around 115 people. Of these, 15 were arrested for
targeting people at Indrad village Thursday night, Mehsana Superintendent of
Police Pradip Sejul said.
On Thursday night, non-Gujaratis were targeted in Indrad, Borisana and
Dhamasan villages of Mehsana district, local police said,
At Indrad, around 250 suspected members of the Thakor Sena targeted non-
Gujaratis and also pelted stones on police vehicles, they said.
3 PTI, (October 5, 2018, 23:41 IST), INDIA TODAY,
https://www.indiatoday.in/pti-feed/story/non-gujaratis-targeted-after-toddler-s-rape-170-
arrested-1357059-2018-10-05.

9. At Borisana, an FIR was lodged against some members of the local gram
panchayat for allegedly inciting people to attack non-Gujaratis, they said.
Besides the IPC sections dealing with rioting, around 100 people were booked
under section 153(a), which deals with punishment for promoting enmity
between groups on the basis of religion, race or language for the Borisana
incident, the police said.
On Friday morning, a 200-strong mob gathered outside a factory in Kabola
village of Arvalli district after someone circulated a message on social media
that the unit has employed a large number of non-Gujaratis, the police said.4
While the mob was dispersed by the police, 13 people who were part of it were
arrested and charged with rioting and promoting enmity between groups,
Arvalli district SP Mayur Patil said.
Meanwhile, Alpesh Thakor claimed he never asked the Kshatriya Thakor Sena
to engage in violence or attack non- Gujaratis.
Alpesh Thakor had first raked up the issue of non- Gujaratis while demanding
"justice" for the rape survivor a week back. He had then said locals should be
given preference in jobs in industries in Gujarat.
"Non-Gujaratis are not on our target. I have called a meeting of all the office-
bearers of the Thakor Sena to discuss this issue. It is also possible that some
persons are settling their scores with others in the name of Thakor Sena," he
said.
4 Newsroom (08/10/2018 12:26 PM IST), HUFFPOST,
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/10/08/gujarat-rape-case-15-migrants-workers-
attacked-by-mob-police-say-they-have-arrested-342-people_a_23553892/.

10. Meanwhile, the Cyber Crime Cell of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch has started
arresting persons suspected to be involved in spreading hate messages against
non-Gujaratis on social media.
While two have been arrested, many more will be nabbed very soon, Additional
Commissioner of Police J K Bhatt said.
FINDINGS
Rajubhai is waiting for a bus that will take him to his village in Bind district of
Madhya Pradesh. He has a 2-year-old daughter in his arms and his wife and
another daughter accompanies him.
For the past 10 years, Rajubhai has been running a pani puri stall in
Ahmadabad. He says things were never bad but the last few days have scared
him.
Two days ago, a group of people attacked him and vandalized his stall. "They
threatened to kill me if I did not leave Gujarat with my family," he says.
His wife Kamla Devi wonders why innocent people like them are being
harassed. "The guilty should be punished. Why are we being harassed for
someone else's fault? We have small kids and are being forced to leave
everything behind and flee to our village," she says.
“The guilty should be punished. Why are we being harassed for someone else's
fault? We have small kids and are being forced to leave everything behind and
flee to our village” - Kamla Devi
Rajubhai's is not the only family that is waiting for a bus to get out of Gujarat.
The bus stand in Medhaninagar in Ahmadabad is crowded with families like his
who came to Gujarat to make a living.
Everyday buses flooded with people from other states are driving out of the bus
stand as people are forced to leave Gujarat.

11. Apart from Rajubhai, there's also Malkhan, who has been pulling a rickshaw in
Ahmadabad. A few days back, he was attacked by a group and threatened of
dire consequences if he fails to leave the city immediately. His rickshaw was
destroyed too.
"I was returning home from the civil hospital area when I was attacked by the
group. They broke my rickshaw and asked me to leave the city immediately.
They said they will kill me if I don't," he said.
“They broke my rickshaw and asked me to leave the city immediately. They
said they will kill me if I don't” - Malkhan
The exodus started after police arrested a man, who is a native of Bihar, for
allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha. Soon after the arrest, angry
locals started attacking non-Gujarati speaking people in the state.
Local groups started threatening people and vandalizing properties of non-
Gujarati speaking communities. In some cases, the properties were also gutted.
Similar incidents have been reported from other areas too.
As a result, everyday a large number of people are heading to Ahmadabad to try
and catch a train or a bus to get out of Gujarat at the earliest. Most of these
people were living in areas like Sabarkantha, Mahesana, Aravali, Gandhinagar
and Surendranagar.5
5 Avinash Kumar (Oct 06, 2018 11:29 IST), HINDUSTAN TIMES,
https://www.hindustantimes.com/patna/migrant-workers-from-bihar-up-head-home-
from-gujarat-after-backlash-over-toddler-s-rape/story-GpRQRCr7Ty2jeIDTKnQR1K.html.

12. LEGAL PROVISIONS
The Government of India made an enactment in 1979 of the “Inter-state
Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act
1979”. Though the act covers only interstate migrants, it lays down that
contractors must pay timely wages equal or higher than the minimum wage,
provide suitable residential accommodation, prescribed medical facilities,
protective clothing, notify accidents and causalities to specified authorities and
kin. The Act provides for the right to raise industrial disputes in the provincial
jurisdiction where they work or in their home province. The act sets penalties
including imprisonment for non-compliance. At the same time the act provides
an escape route to principal employers if they can show that transgressions were
committed without their knowledge. Needless to say, the Act exists only on
paper and not in reality. The record of prosecutions or dispute settlement is
almost nil. The migrant labourers face additional problems and constraints as
they are both labourers and migrants. Hence, there is no improvement in the
working and living conditions for migrant workers. There are no structures to
adequately address the basic issues concerning migrant labour relations, leave
aside, addressing the whole gamut of labour relations. The reasons are obvious.
The Indian Judiciary occasionally comes to the rescue of migrant labour and
makes pronouncements and observations to fill the gap in the justice delivery
system. It seems regulatory mechanisms are over stretched, inadequately
structured, manpower deficient and resource crunched.
One noteworthy enactment to address seasonal migration is the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which guarantees 100 days of
employment in a year. The rate of daily wages is, as per the minimum wage
applicable to that territory. It is implemented successfully only in a very few

13. places which is a miniscule response. In most cases the funds are channelled to
vested interests.
Some trade unions and non-governmental organizations though very small in
number make sincere efforts to alleviate the problems of migrant workers. IMF
initiated an effort to organize the migrant workers at the ship-breaking yard at
Mumbai and Alang through Steel, Metal & Engineering Workers’ Federation of
India (SMEFI). These migrant workers were organized in the existing union
Mumbai, Port Trust, Dock and General Employees’ Union (MPTDGEU) by
amending the constitution and reducing the rates of subscription. Non-economic
demands like civic amenities, occupational health and safety (OHS) and social
problems were taken up. The beginning was to provide safe drinking water at
the workplace. As a next step, first aid boxes were provided and blood donation
camps were organised with the help of St. Johns Ambulance. Identity
badges/membership cards were issued. Mohalla Committees (neighbourhood
committees) were set up to integrate these migrant workers to bridge the
language and cultural gaps. NGO’s were involved and collaboration with them
really helped to organise the workers. The union encountered stiff resistance
from employers, money lenders and local mafias. The Supreme Court of India
appointed a Monitoring Committee, while disposing a Public Interest Litigation
(PIL) in the famous Clemenceau case. The Migrant Workers Union submitted a
memorandum on socio-economic conditions of the migrant workers and it is
considered by the Apex Court as a source of reference. This effort spread to
Alang which is the largest shipbreaking yard in the state of Gujarat. The Alang
shipbreaking workers came into the fold of this initiative and registered the first
ever union of shipbreaking workers in India. To date union membership stands
at 5,705. As part of this initiative, training programmes and workshops were
conducted exclusively for migrant workers. It is an amazing experience that the

14. migrant workers spoke for themselves in their language and took active part in
decision making effort for redressal of their grievances.
There are some efforts like these, but they are not strong enough to build
pressure in the corridor of powers to represent the legitimate and genuine issues
of migrant labour. Some voluntary groups and non-governmental organizations
also have taken up the issues of migrant workers.
The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 and the Employees Provident Fund
Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952 can be considered as landmark legislations.
Such enactments have targeted the fundamental problems of labour including
migrant labour by such provisions which take care of the workers in the
exigencies of sickness, ill-health and other contingencies of life including old
age. The latest initiative of ESI Scheme 'Any Time Any Where' services
through proposed IT Roll Out should go a long way in making available both
medical and cash benefit related facilities to migrant workers.

15. Constitutional Laws
India is a founder member of the ILO.India has ratified 37 of the 181
conventions. The constitution of India upholds all the fundamental principles
envisaged in the seven core international labour standards. Out of the seven core
labour conventions, India has ratified three, they are (i) forced labour No.29,
equal remuneration No.100. and discrimination No.111.The government of
India has ratified some conventions such as hours of work industry convention
1919,night work (women ) convention 1919 ,minimum age convention 1919
,Right to Association ( Agricultural workers ),workmen’s compensation,1925,
Equal Remuneration convention1951,(VenataRatam,1998),However, freedom
of association and Right to collective bargaining (convention No.87 and 98 )
both conventions are not ratified by India due to technical difficulties involving
trade union rights for civil servents. Freedom of Association is guaranteed as a
fundamental right in the Indian constitution , Trade Union Act 1926 meets with
part of the objectives of the convention. The Indian Constitution, (GOI, 1991)
upholds the principle equality between men and women. Laws have enacted
fixing the hours and minimum wages of labourers and to improve their living
conditions. Various security schemes have been framed. Besides, there are
various labour laws, like Trade Union Act 1926, The Minimum Wages Act
1948, Employees State Insurance Act 1948, Industrial Disputes Act 1949,
Industrial Disputes Decision Act 1955, Payment of Bonus Act 1955, Personal
Injuries, (compensation insurance ) Act 1963,Maternity 5 Benefits Act 1967,
Contract Labour ( Regulation and Abolition ) Act1970,Bonded labour Systems
(Abolition )Act 1976, Equal Remuneration Act 1976, Interstate Migrant
Workmen (Regulation of Employment ) Conditions of Service Act 1979, The
Child Labour (prohibition and Regulation )Act 1986 etc. However, these labour
laws and policies are applicable for workers in the organized sector only. What
is the present position of unorganized workers India? Have they got basic rights

16. of labour as per labour standards in India? Have they protected by various
labour laws in India? What is status of migrant workers in India? These are
main issues of unorganized workers in India. They constitute 92 percent of the
total workforce in the country. As against this an estimated 8 percent of the
labour force in India falls in the formal or organized sector, which is protected
by compressive labour laws covering Industrial Disputes, Unfair dismissal trade
union rights, wage and working conditions , health, insurance, security schemes
etc.

17. International Convention
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families guarantees migrant workers and their
families fundamental human rights, including:
freedom from discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, sex,
religion or any other status, in all aspects of work, including in hiring,
conditions of work, and promotion, and in access to housing, health care and
basic services;
equality before the law regardless of a migrant's legal status;
freedom from arbitrary expulsion from their country of employment; and
protection from violence, physical injury, threats and intimidation by public
officials or by private individuals, groups or institutions.
Though the United States has yet to ratify this treaty, these rights are also
protected in treaties that the U.S. has ratified, such as the International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The
failure of the U.S. to address human rights violations facing migrant workers
has drawn sharp rebukes from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of
Migrants, the U.N. Human Rights Committee, and the U.N. Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination.6
6 Chandra Bhatnagar, Senior Staff Attorney, (DECEMBER 18, 2009, 11:57 AM), ACLU
HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM,
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/human-rights-abuse-plain-sight-migrant-
workers-us.

18. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
United States (US)
When we affirm the human rights that are entitled to all migrants, a working-
class community with a large population of migrant workers is suffering at the
hands of the government in Puerto Rico. Ordered to relocate after the land on
which they have been living was declared a flood zone, the 200 families and
300 children of the Villas del Sol community in the town of Toa Baja – many of
whom are Dominican migrants – are now facing forced evictions. Those
eviction efforts turned violent this summer when police pepper-sprayed and beat
residents – including a pregnant woman and her 6-year-old son – who
peacefully protested the construction of barricades around their community.
Water and electricity were shut off in August.
Recently, following a local and international outcry, the government partially
restored water services through three taps, but only through the holiday season,
which in Puerto Rico ends on January 18. Electricity continues to be denied,
and the dire situation has compromised sanitation and fueled fears of disease
outbreaks. At least one infant has contracted the H1N1 virus and others have
been hospitalized, and there are further fears of an outbreak of Dengue fever.
In a U.S. territory, the migrant residents of Villas del Sol represent a part of the
population that is extremely vulnerable to human rights violations and abuse.
Migrants frequently face exploitation and discrimination by their employers and
public officials, and can be denied basic services like health care and, as seen in
Villas del Sol, housing.
Migrant workers pay the price when the U.S. lags in international standards. For
example, under the U.S. guestworker program, foreign guestworkers (or
temporary workers) are left at the mercy of employers who can exploit, isolate
and abuse them. Guestworkers often arrive to the U.S. deep in debt after paying

19. exorbitant amounts of money to recruiters who promise them job opportunities.
With inadequate governmental oversight of labor abuses in the guestworker
program, it is only after they arrive in the United States that these workers
discover that they have no way to escape an abusive situation because, under the
terms of the guestworker program, they are unable to lawfully transfer their
visas from one employer to another.
Another group of very vulnerable migrant workers are domestic and agricultural
workers, who are excluded from federal legislation that provides basic
protections like the right to a minimum wage, overtime pay, freedom of
association, and health and safety guarantees while at work. These exemptions
can be traced back to New Deal legislation passed in the 1930s, when the
growers' lobby and other moneyed interests pressured Southern senators to
exempt the then largely African-American worker populations of farm workers
and domestic workers from these basic workplace protections. Because of this
racially biased “compromise,” workers in these professions today – who largely
include migrants from Central/South America, South Asia, Africa and the
Caribbean – continue to be unprotected.
A third group of migrant workers who face grave and systemic human rights
violations are the 9 to12 million workers without authorization or
documentation. Despite the fact that the most dangerous and poorly paid jobs in
the United States are often filled by undocumented workers, the U.S.
government has increasingly limited the protections available to this group of
people, leaving them vulnerable to workplace discrimination and abuse. A
particularly damaging precedent was set by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision
in the case of Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc vs. NLRB, which found that an
undocumented worker who was unlawfully fired for engaging in union
organizing activities was not entitled to the back-pay that another “documented”
worker would receive. The case has had a devastating impact on undocumented
workers as a whole, as basic employment and labor protections under state laws

20. have either been eliminated or severely limited in some states. These policies
are in violation of international law, which requires the U.S. to apply its
workplace protections equally and without discrimination based on immigration
status.
These human rights abuses are happening in plain sight and repercussions
extend far beyond the workplace, as migrants in the U.S. who are unable to earn
a decent living are often denied adequate housing, health care and other basic
needs. Variations of the dire situation faced by the community of Villas del Sol
play out on a smaller level every day as families across the U.S., trapped by
unfair labor laws, try to make a living with few governmental safeguards and
few options for help.

21. CASE LAW
Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Education
FACTS
In 1977, the Supreme Court, in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, upheld
against a First Amendment challenge a Michigan law that allowed a public
employer whose employees were represented by a union to require those of its
employees who did not join the union nevertheless to pay fees to it because they
benefited from the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the employer.
Illinois has a law similar to that upheld in Michigan. The governor of Illinois
brought a lawsuit challenging the law on the ground that the statute violates the
First Amendment by compelling employees who disapprove of the union to
contribute money to it. The district court dismissed the complaint on the
grounds that the governor lacked standing to sue because he did not stand to
suffer injury from the law, but two public employees intervened in the action to
seek that Abood be overturned. Given that Abood is binding on lower courts,
the district court dismissed the claim, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed
dismissal for the same reason.
ISSUES
Should the Court’s decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education be
overturned so that public employees who do not belong to a union cannot be
required to pay a fee to cover the union’s costs to negotiate a contract that
applies to all public employees, including those who are not union members?
DECISION
The State of Illinois’ extraction of agency fees from nonconsenting public-
sector employees violates the First Amendment; Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Ed.,
431 U.S. 209 (1977), which held otherwise, is overruled.
In a 5-4 vote, the Court reversed and remanded, holding that the State of
Illinois’ extraction of agency fees from nonconsenting public-sector employees

22. violated the First Amendment, meaning that Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Education,
which held otherwise, was overruled.
In an opinion authored by Justice Alito, the Court began by stating that the
district court had jurisdiction over Janus’ suit, as he was undisputedly injured in
fact by the state’s agency fee system, and the harm he suffered could be
redressed if he prevailed in court.
Janus v. AFSCME will not change anything for people who like their union and
want to continue to financially support their union. Unions will still be able to
bargain with government entities over things like compensation, work
conditions and benefits. Anyone who wants to be in a union and pay money to a
government union can do so. The case has no bearing whatsoever on unions in
the private sector.7
7 Moshe Marvit (FEBRUARY 15, 2018), THE CENTURY FOUNDATION,
https://tcf.org/content/commentary/legal-arguments-janus-v-afscme
explained/?agreed=1.

23. CONCLUSIONS
The International Labour Organization has played a significant role in
promoting International Labour Standards. India has advocated the promotion
of labour standards within the frame work of the ILO Constitution. More than
90 percent of the total workforce is engaged in the unorganized or informal
sector, like migrant labour and other workforce. Migrant workers, those
workers, who migrate from one area to another area within the state or country
in order to get seasonal or temporary or part time work in different sectors.
Migrant workers, who are not organized under any trade unions and their labour
standards, are not protected by the government as well as trade unions, these
migrant workers are illiterate, ignorant, and belong to backward community
.They do not get minimum wages stipulated under the Minimum wages Act.
Today, the real issue is how to extend human rights to all segments of the labour
market. There are many groups of workers in the unorganized sector or informal
economy, like migrant workers in agriculture, building and road construction,
brick kilns, sugar factories and others, for whom decent work is a very distant
goal. There are no strong trade unions of migrant workers in the unorganized
sector. The bargaining power of these migrant workers is thus weaker than
workers in the organized sector. After independence, India has been adopted
various labour policies in order to improve working conditions of workers in the
unorganized sector. There are also various labour laws for these workers. Intact,
its implementation is mostly ineffective.
Therefore, migrant workers and workers in the unorganized sector are
struggling for their labour rights and to implement the provisions of various
labour laws as per International labour standards. Therefore, the government of
India should ratify all the relevant international covenants that respect the
dignity of labour, especially important ILO Conventions No.87.the freedom of
association and protection of the right to organize convention, and the ILO

24. convention 98, the right to organize and 16 collective bargaining convention.
Workers, whether industrial workers or employed with the government should
have an inalienable right resort to strike. Uniform labour standards in the
context of unorganized sector workers, like migrant workers, should be
implemented in rural and urban areas of India. It is necessary to protect migrant
and other workers in the unorganized sector by International labour standards.

25. RECOMMENDATION/SUGGESTIONS
Majority of Indian migrants are illiterate and blue collar workers; they migrate
to earn money. Hence, their first preference in the host countries is to maximise
their earnings and remit it to home. With such a background, they can be
susceptible to the inducement of extremist groups.
(i) Indian government should incorporate this aspect the pre-departure training
programme.
(ii) Potential migrants should be informed about the real cause of turbulence in
the region, which is purely political and not religious. For this, Indian
authorities can take help of Indian seminaries
(iii) Government should establish institutional intelligence linkages with the
host countries
(iv) Government should maintain accurate data of migrant workers in different
countries. Many workers overstay or live illegally.
(v) The Indian authorities should negotiate to bring Indian workers languishing
in host countries’ jails to complete their remaining sentences in India.
About 80% Indian migrants are poor. They migrate to support their
families and remit their all earnings. Consequently, on distress return they
encounter dire economic situation at home. In 1990 Gulf crisis, thousands of
Indian workers returned but the state governments failed to provide them either
job or loan to start afresh.
(i) Government should ‘insure’ the migrant workers, so on distress return, they
can start their own businesses
(ii) Government can grant them soft loans
(iii) These workers can also be given preference in opening up SMEs
(iv) Government should establish a pension fund and contingency fund for
them.