PUDUCHERRY: Floral tributes were paid on Thursday to the martyrs who lost their lives demanding an eight-hour work schedule during the French regime.
Leaders and cadres of the Communist Party of India and AITUC took out a silent procession and placed wreaths at the Martyrs' Pillar on Cuddalore Road here to mark the occasion.
On July 30 1936, workers of the Rodier Mills (now Anglo French Textile Mills) resorted to an agitation demanding an eight-hour work schedule. Veteran CPI leader V Subbiah had led the agitation in which twelve workers of the mill were shot dead by the French police.
The rebellion paved the way for an eight-hour work schedule in Puducherry. It was the first time anywhere in the country that this measure came into force.