Contact workers

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017–18 carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), of the 92 million workers working in the formal sector - more than half of them are employed as informal workers. These workers are variously termed as contract temporary, casual or daily wage workers. Despite working for decades, they are forced to work with no security of tenure, with employers denying them the most basic employer- employee relationship rights.
 

Politically, 2024 saw the BJP government face a significant setback in the national elections. At the same time, the year saw a number of workers’ struggles from various sectors, protesting the anti-worker policies of not only the BJP as prime perpetrator, but also various other oppositional governments and private establishments who share the same crony corporate capitalist mores.

The recent victory of contract workers of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing (RAKCON) marks a significant milestone in the history of health workers struggle in Delhi. They won in the midst of the COVID pandemic, against criminal negligence by the central government and defying anti-people laws being passed by the Parliament. On 1st February this year, about 40 contractual employees were fired from RAKCON located in Moolchand, Delhi without any notice. Since then, the employees have been waging a battle against the termination.