No need to frame rules for implementing labour codes, says Elamaram Kareem

Trade unions in Kerala have unanimously told the Kerala government not to frame rules for the implementation of the four labour codes recently notified by the Union government, Elamaram Kareem, State general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), has said.

Addressing the media after opening a march taken out to the Income Tax office by various trade unions in protest against the codes on Wednesday (November 26, 2025), he said that options would be explored against implementing the new laws. “We will try our level best to resist the codes,” Mr. Kareem said.

His comments come against the backdrop of news reports revealing that the Left Democratic Front-led government had prepared a draft of the rules some time ago. The CITU leader claimed it was done by a section of officials in the Labour department who had acted under pressure from their Central counterparts.

“The Union government asked all the States to frame rules. Thereafter, the draft was prepared in 2021. Labour Minister V. Sivankutty subsequently called the trade unions for talks. We told him that it need not be implemented now, and let us wait till the Central government notifies its rules. The draft was thus kept aside,” he said.

Later, opening a protest march organised by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists and the Kerala Newspaper Employees’ Federation, he said that the trade unions would also find out what legal options were available to prevent the implementation of the labour codes. He alleged that the codes were aimed at creating a “trade union-free atmosphere” which would make collective bargaining by workers for their rights a hard task.