The Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU) has opposed a review of the recent minimum wage hike by the new Karnataka cabinet under Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. In a statement released on Wednesday, July 1, the JCTU said the revision would benefit more than one crore working-class households across the state and increase aggregate demand in the economy.
The minimum wage hike, which was announced in May, places the minimum wage in Karnataka among the highest in the country, with workers at the lower end of the spectrum earning a minimum of Rs 21,251 per month, and those on the higher end earning a monthly wage of Rs 34,225.
The new cabinet is set to review the revised minimum wages. However, the Karnataka cabinet doesn’t have a labour minister at present. 13 ministers were sworn in along with CM Shivakumar on June 3, but the cabinet expansion has not yet been announced.
Protesting employers had petitioned the Karnataka High Court, arguing that the hike would adversely affect businesses. A single-judge bench comprising Justice Jyoti Mulimani has issued notices to the Union and Karnataka state governments.
In the statement, the JCTU stated that the notification issued on May 22 revised minimum wages across 83 categories of employment. The revision, which was due since 2017–18, increased by around 40% and not 60% as the employers claim.
The JCTU further noted that the revision was long overdue for 39 scheduled employments, some of which had not seen a wage revision for more than eight years. It argued that any further delay would violate the Minimum Wages Act as well as Supreme Court directives relating to forced labour.
The revised wages are based on the scientific methodology laid down by the 15th Indian Labour Conference (1957) and take into account essential requirements such as food, clothing, and housing across 16 centres. The committee said these norms have also been upheld by the Supreme Court, according to the statement.
The statement added that the wage revision was discussed extensively before implementation and incorporated inputs from all stakeholders.
The trade unions also argued that the withdrawal of a final notification revising minimum wages is illegal, citing a Karnataka High Court division bench ruling that had held such a withdrawal to be unlawful.
The committee further stated that major entities such as KPTCL, along with several boards, corporations, and private employers, have already implemented the revised wage rates. It argued that any attempt to roll back the hike would now be illegal, as workers' rights under the revised notification have already vested.
This story was written by a student interning with TNM.