CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu trade unions have announced a series of protests from April 26 against the amendment to the Factories Act.
The protests will culminate in a strike that will start on May 12 against the act, which allows 12 hours of work per day.
The announcement comes after a meeting of major trade unions at Chintadripet on Sunday, even as senior ministers and officials are scheduled to hold talks with trade union representatives on Monday.
The trade unions urged the government to withdraw the amendment immediately.
They also accused the DMK government of implementing the regressive law in Tamil Nadu while the Modi-govt is struggling to do it across the country.
The protest will start with meetings and demonstrations at factories on April 26 and culminate in strikes and blockades on May 9.
In between, a notice of strike will be given on April 27, and workers will wear blackbands and boycott lunch in factories on April 28. They will host two-wheeler campaigns on May 4 and 5 and organise agitations at the district headquarters on April 9.
"The Factories Act (Amendment) Bill passed in the assembly mentions that it has been brought due to the time taken to implement The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, passed by the union government. It also states that employers and their associations gave representations to implement it as it will benefit the workers, especially women. However, it has not taken into consideration the fact that a similar request presented in the high-level tripartite meeting of the Tamil Nadu State Labor Advisory Board, presided over by the labour minister, was rejected," said their joint statement.
All unions, including Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), are against the Union government's bill to increase working hours from the present eight hours. It is condemnable that the Tamil Nadu government is implementing a law that the Union government is struggling to implement, it added.
Speaking to TNIE, CITU state president A Soundarrajan, who headed the meeting, said that all unions, organised, unorganised, private and public sectors will participate in the protests.
"The 12-hour work has been implemented in the BJP-ruled states like Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh through state government notifications. Even the neighbouring Karnataka passed The Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2023, which permits industries to have a 12-hour work day in February," he said.
He added while the AIADMK union did not attend the meeting, the employees affiliated with the union are likely to take part in the statewide protest on May 12.
Recalling the history of the struggle to get eight hours of work per day, the statement said that it was a fight that lasted over 150 years.
"Before 1880, working hours were 18 hours, which then gradually reduced to 16, 14, 12 and 10. Subsequently, eight hours of work were implemented in 1936 in Puducherry and in 1947 across the country. In many countries around the world, it has been further reduced to a five-day workweek with 7 hours a day, totalling 35 hours a week. The right to work eight hours was won by our forefathers who sacrificed their lives and blood for the cause. It is the duty of the working class in the state to fight for this right," it further mentioned.
Representatives of nine trade unions including AITUC, CITU, HMS, INTUC, AIUTUC, AICCTU, Working People's Council, MLF, and LLF participated in the meeting.