Context:
Central Trade Unions (CTUs) urge Government to ratify ILO Conventions on workers’ Health and Safety in the light of recent Silkyara Tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand.
Central Trade Unions:
- Aim – To protect and promote the interests of their members, which are workers or employers.
- Examples – All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), etc.
- 1st organised trade union in India – Madras Labour Union (1918)
- Laws governing Trade Unions –
- Article 19(1) (c) of the Constitution: Guarantees citizens the right to form associations or unions, including trade unions.
- Trade Unions Act of 1926: Regulates the formation and registration of trade unions and the laws that govern registered trade unions.
- Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: Manages the rights of employers and employees in the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes, including those involving trade unions.
In India, workers’ safety is covered under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (OSHWCC) 2020.
International Labour Organization (ILO):
- Established in 1919.
- Only tripartite U.N. agency
- ILO brings together governments, employers and workers
- Members – 187 Members (India – Founding Member)
- Objective – To promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.
- Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
- Reports – Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2023, The road to decent work for domestic workers, etc.
India’s ratification status of ILO conventions:
| Ratified by India | Not Ratified by India |
| Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) | Freedom of Association and Protection of Right to Organise Convention (No.87) |
| Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105) | Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No.98) |
| Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100) | C155 – Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 |
| Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention (No. 111) | C187 – Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 |
| Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) | |
| Worst forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182) |
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
With reference to the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, consider the following statements:
1. A coastal state has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baseline determined in accordance with the convention.
2. Ships of all states, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.
3. The Exclusive Economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2022 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
