‘Violation of human rights’: NHRC chief slams hire & fire practices by companies

There have been reports lately of several aggregator companies and start-ups laying off employees. Food aggregator Zomato recently claimed it will lay off around 3% of its workforce across various departments. Social media giant Meta also recently fired 13% of its global workforce while Twitter announced the firing of 3,700 employees

Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Arun Kumar Mishra on Saturday lambasted the anti-labour ‘hire and fire’ practices of aggregator platforms, terming it as ‘gross violation of human rights’ and asked judiciary, legislative, executive and human rights institutions to adopt a ‘new approach’ to deal with such violations.

NHRC chief Arun Mishra speaking at the 74th Human Rights Day at Vigyan Bhawan (PTI Photo)

Speaking at the 74th Human Rights Day at Vigyan Bhawan, Mishra called for ensuring respect for human rights by multinational corporations and guarding against superior bargaining power within the national legal framework.

“Globalization has brought foreign investment, one outfall is the concentration of wealth in the hands of transnational enterprises and a few countries. Globalization has created centres of power even in competition with the power of states. Free movement of capital causes money laundering. The challenge is ensuring the right to livelihood from aggregator platforms with no investment. The majority of them are distributors. Their monopoly disrupts the global supply chain,” he said.

Further, slamming the practices of big organizations without naming any, he said, “they (companies) can change shape and location easily and are involved in anti-labour practices of ‘hire and fire’, predatory pricing and dodging taxes in gross violation of human rights.”

There have been reports lately of several aggregator companies and start-ups laying off employees. Food aggregator Zomato recently claimed it will lay off around 3% of its workforce across various departments. Social media giant Meta also recently fired 13% of its global workforce while Twitter announced the firing of 3,700 employees.

Hence, a new approach should be adopted by judiciary, legislative, executive and Human Rights Institutions. Even civil society has to be vigilant, he said without any company, he said.

December 10th is observed as Human Rights Day to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It was approved and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on this day in 1948 as a universally accepted value-based document of understanding the importance of the promotion and protection of human rights. The NHRC, formed in 1993, is the apex body for human rights issues.

Mishra further underlined the need for safeguarding the rights of victims of business-related human rights. “It is necessary that safeguards in domestic regulations should be anchored in international legal obligations towards victims of business-related human rights violations. The terms and licensing conditions to operate must include provision for the protection of human rights.”

“We must ensure respect for human rights by multinational corporations and guard against superior bargaining power within the national legal framework. Licensing regulations must protect the interest of the national industries/businesses,” he added.

The NHRC chairperson also asserted that the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy continues to abuse the rights to the health of survivors and residents of the area. “For calamities caused by industrial disasters, transnational enterprises’ responsibility has to be well defined. For example, the world’s worst disaster, the 1984 ‘Bhopal gas Tragedy’, killed nearly 3,000 people. Around 336 tonnes of hazardous waste is still lying on the premises. Delay in the disposal of such hazardous waste by a multinational company contaminates the groundwater and soil and is a direct abuse of the right to health of the survivors and residents of the area,” he said.

Mishra also made a case for Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to end discrimination against women.

“We see discrimination against women worldwide due to social, customary and religious practices. The time has come to take care of the same by enacting legislative provisions to remove discrimination in inheritance, property rights, parental rights, domicile of married women, and legal capacity. Improving the condition of women in vulnerable sections and in rural areas is needed,” Mishra said.

President Droupadi Murmu, who attended the event as the chief guest said that human rights are a work in progress around the world.

“Today, we fail to understand why something as simple as basic dignity could be denied to someone solely on the basis of their race, religion, gender or language, or where and in which group they were born,” the President said.

The UDHR is translated into more than 500 languages, which makes it the most translated document in history, she said, adding “..when we consider the sad developments that keep taking place in many parts of the world, we wonder if the declaration has been read at all in some of those languages.”

“Human rights are a work in progress around the world. At home, however, we can take solace in the fact that the NHRC has been making the best possible efforts to spread awareness about them,” said Murmu.