Contractors plan to block middlemen

At a time when the real estate sector across the State is yet to recover from the crisis fuelled by demonetisation, the move by a group of private building contractors to ‘block’ middlemen employing migrant labourers from bagging construction contracts has kicked up a row. After the issue snowballed into a controversy, State leaders of the Private Building Contractors Association (PBCA) stepped in to clarify that they would not “snatch anyone’s job”, but try to bring them into an organisational set-up. Earlier this week, the PBCA’s unit secretary in Valayam, near Nadapuram, put up a poster in their area saying they would “block” migrant labourers from taking up contract for wall construction, concreting and plastering works. It was announced that their decision would come into effect from December 10. Ashokan, Nadapuram area secretary, PBCA, told on Sunday that the construction industry had been going through a tough phase and there were very few jobs around. “In such a scenario, we saw some people, both Malayalis and migrant labourers, getting into the business as middlemen and bagging contracts at low rates. For example, if a labourer, migrant or others, gets paid ?850 to?900 for a day’s work under building contractors, the migrant labourers working with such middlemen will be given only half of the amount so that the total cost of construction will be less. The middlemen get a handsome commission from the owner of the building,” he pointed out. When a labourer employed by a contractor winds up work by 5 p.m., those who work with middlemen toils for 12 hours each day. Mr. Ashokan said this was akin to snatching away jobs from the labourers employed by them. In some cases, the middlemen also dupe the migrant labourers by not paying their wages on time. “We decided to put an end to this practice. However, it was misconstrued by some people who claimed we were blocking migrant labourers,” Mr. Ashokan said. C.K. Velayudhan, general secretary, PBCA, said a meeting was held on Sunday to clear the air. “We cannot say that some people should not be employed. Most of the migrant labourers in Kerala are not organised. We need to organise them to ensure that they get decent wages,” he said.