Tamil Nadu withholds Bill that extended factory workers’ shifts to 12 hours

The Bill extended the working hours of factory workers to 12 hours from the current eight hours. It also stated that those who worked 12 hours for four consecutive days would receive three paid days off per week.

The DMK was the first non-BJP government that passed the Bill after it was amended by the Union government.

Slamming the move, DMK allies, including the Congress, as well as the MDMK, the VCK, the Communist parties, the prime Opposition party the AIADMK, the PMK, and the BJP demanded that the state government forward the Bill to the Select Committee of Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Also read: Agriculture lands will not be used for industrial parks, says TN

Trade unions talk with ministers

More than 20 trade unions, including the CITU, AITCU, All India Trade Union Congress, the DMK’s allied Labour Progressive Front, and the AIADMK’s Anna Thozhsangam Pervai called on several ministers, including EV Velu, CV Ganesan, and TM Anbarasan, for talks on Monday afternoon.

The ministers assured the trade unions that the government would not compromise on workers’ welfare and that the extended working hours would only apply to certain types of factories approved by the government.

However, the trade unions refused to accept the explanation. They reportedly told the ministers that the Bill would be used to exploit the labours working in Foxconn and Pegatron (Apple suppliers), as well as Nike shoemaker Pou Chen, which are among the companies that have invested in the state.

Even medium-scale industries would be affected due to this law, they said.

The trade unions threatened to go ahead with a chain of protests if the Bill was not withdrawn.

Later in the evening, the ministers who held talks with the trade unions conveyed their views to Chief Minister MK Stalin.

Also read: 9 killed, 17 injured in blast at Kancheepuram firecracker unit

Bill withheld

Subsequently, Stalin announced that the Bill would be withheld.

In a statement, he said that the DMK was always friendly with the workers’ fraternity and would protect them.

Listing out his regime’s schemes for them, Stalin also said: “The DMK government will always respect the opinion of the workers and will value and heed to the wishes of the people.”

Welcoming the announcement, Opposition leaders thanked the DMK government for considering the concerns of the workers and trade unions.

Earlier in the day, while speaking to South First, CITU president A Soundarajan said that the Bill would burden workers and that the DMK government should have arrived at the decision after consulting the trade unions.