Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Stalin said it requires courage to withdraw a Bill after passing it in the House.
Chief Minister Stalin addressing the May Day function in Chennai on Monday. (Supplied)
Workers in Tamil Nadu received a Labour Day gift when the state government repealed the Factories (Amendment) Act, 2023, which extended the working hours to 12 a day from eight.
Addressing an International Workers’ Day meeting at the May Day Park, Chief Minister MK Stalin the Bill was introduced and passed to attract huge investments to Tamil Nadu.
It was also meant to generate employment opportunities for the youth, he said, adding that the government has considered the trade unions’ apprehensions over the Act.
“I never intended to insult (the workers). I regarded it as a matter of pride because it requires courage to pass legislation and to withdraw a Bill,” he said.
“That’s how Kalaignar (former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi) trained us. It was withdrawn within two days of trade unions’ expressing doubts, including the DMK-affiliated trade union,” Stalin explained.
Listing the welfare schemes of the earlier DMK regimes, Stalin said, “The DMK government will not compromise on the welfare of the workers under any circumstances. Industries should grow and workers should prosper,” he said.
He also stated that all legislators would be informed of the government’s withdrawal of the Bill.
On 21 April, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Factories (Amendment) Act, 2023, providing flexible working hours for factory workers across the state.
The move, however, was met with protests several parties claimed that the Act would stretch the mandatory working hours to 12 hours from the present eight hours.
The Bill was passed by voice vote in the Assembly amid strong opposition from DMK’s allies, including the Congress, MDMK, Communist parties, and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.
The Opposition and the DMK allies demanded the government forward the Bill to the Select Committee of Assembly.
Later the trade unions, opposing the Bill, declared that they would go on indefinite strike if the Bill was not withdrawn.
The government held talks with more than 20 trade unions, including the CITU, AITCU, All India Trade Union Congress, the DMK’s Labour Progressive Front, and the AIADMK’s Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai.
After the talks, Stalin on April 24 announced that the Bill would be withheld.
The DMK was the first non-BJP government that passed the Bill after it was amended by the Union government.
Incidentally, the Marxist International Socialist Congress meeting in Paris adopted a resolution for a “great international demonstration” in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day in 1889.
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