CPM flays nod for women workers in hazardous units
He criticised the State government for issuing the draft amendment without consulting trade unions or women’s groups. “This measure is unacceptable. It will put women workers at extreme risk,” he said.
CPM state secretary P Shanmugam
CHENNAI: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam on Friday demanded that the State government immediately withdraw the draft notification that proposes to allow women to work in hazardous industries, warning that the move poses “grave risks” to women workers. He said women’s organisations across the State would hold protests on November 29, and the CPM fully supports their agitation.
Shanmugam said the Tamil Nadu Factories Act has, for the past 75 years, prohibited the employment of women in 20 hazardous sectors such as electroplating, glass manufacturing, lead-based industries, gas and petroleum production, dye and chemical mixing units, fireworks and match factories, pesticide and fertiliser manufacturing, owing to severe health hazards. Exposure in these workplaces has been linked to leukaemia, kidney failure, uterine cancer, congenital disabilities in children, and developmental impairments, he said.
He criticised the State government for issuing the draft amendment without consulting trade unions or women’s groups. “This measure is unacceptable. It will put women workers at extreme risk,” he said.
The CPM urged the government to respect the concerns of working women and immediately roll back the proposed amendment. The party also said that any major labour-related reform must be undertaken only after democratic consultation with trade unions.
