PUDUCHERRY: The Communist Party of India (CPI) has demanded the withdrawal of the Puducherry government notification increasing the working hours of industrial workers from eight to 12 hours a day.
A M Saleem, CPI state secretary, in a statement said that under the guise of increasing industrial production that is on the decline due to the lockdown, the Centre is trying to push ahead its anti-worker agenda including enhancing the working hours at the behest of foreign and domestic corporates.
The Puducherry government had succumbed to the diktats of the BJP at the Centre, which is sending instructions to state bureaucrats through its labour secretary on increasing the working hours, said Saleem.
The statement of the Chief Minister that the workers would be paid overtime wages as per Section 59 of the Factories Act is not acceptable, he said.
He pointed out that AICC leader Rahul Gandhi had vehemently opposed labour law reforms, but the right to eight hours of work is being taken away in a Congress ruled state.
The prime objective of the government should be to ensure wages for the lockdown period and social and job security for migrant and unorganised workers as they are the most vulnerable section.
The increase in working hours would pave the way for massive retrenchments, affecting the social fabric of Puducherry, he added.