JUSTICE FOR WAGE THEFT AMONG INDIAN MIGRANT WORKERS

Date : 30/07/2021

COVID-19 pandemic has been taking a heavy toll on migrant workers in countries of destination by exposing them further into situations of exploitation. Many employers took advantage of this situation and the panic created among migrant workers to practice gruesome rights violation. This mainly occurred in the form of terminating workers without notice, withholding wages and service benefits, unlawful deduction of wages, unpaid leave and in worse cases, abandoning workers after all the above. This kind of unlawful deduction, rightly called as ‘wage theft’ became an extra burden for migrant workers during times when the whole world is fighting a pandemic. With this subject matter in concern, an international coalition of civil society organizations (CSO’s) and trade unions lead by the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) launched the Justice for Wage Theft Campaign 1 with an appeal on governments to establish an urgent justice mechanism that addresses the plight of migrant workers whose wages have been unjustly withheld by their employers. The Center for Indian Migrant Studies (CIMS) conducted the Campaign and documentation activities in India.