The Triple Absence of Labour Rights: Triangular Labour Relations and Informalisation in the Construction and Garment Sectors in Delhi and Shanghai

London: SOAS University of London

Asia

This paper focuses on work organised through intermediaries, often labelled labour agencies or labour contractors. The steep increase of such work is a concern for international labour unions such as ITUC and IndustryALL. Labour subcontractors ‘sever the direct employment
relationship’ and create ‘indirect’ or ‘triangular’ labour relations which ‘reduce or eliminate’ the end-employer’s ‘legal responsibilities to the worker’ (ITUC 2014: 7); it is a ‘triangular trap’ (IndustryAll 2013). These conditions cheapen labour and curtail workers’ rights, compared to those of workers employed in formalised labour relations.

External link

Mezzadri Alessandra