Trade unions in Tamil Nadu have protested against the proposed amendments to the Tamil Nadu Factories Act 1948 and said that these amendments are “sudden and shocking”.
Demanding its withdrawal of the draft Bill, The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Tamil Nadu, has called for protests.
Tamil Nadu is one of the leading textile and garment manufacturing hubs and any change in the Factories Act will have a significant impact on the workers of the industry.
A statement by CITU state president A Soundararajan and general secretary G Sukumaran says that it has been 75 years since the introduction of the Factories Act. In all these years, no government has amended the clauses related to working hours. These amendments come at the behest of the Union Government and on the demand of industrialists.
The statement also says that the reduction of working hours has always been the demand of trade unions, and the move of the Tamil Nadu Government has been against it.
It is worth noting here that sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, and 59 of the Factories Act deal with statutory provisions, such as hours of work, weekly holidays, intervals for rest, the spread of work, overtime, pay for overtime, compensatory leave for overtime and rest periods during work. If the Bill is adopted and becomes a law, the state government would be able to exempt any factory or group of factories from any or all of the provisions.
The move, the union alleged, was initiated following representation from many industries and industry associations, as the government states that making the statutory provisions flexible will benefit the workers.
