VCK slams TN govt's Bill to permit 12-hour work for factory workers

CHENNAI: Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan condemned the State government for passing the Bill in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday amending the Factories Act, 1948, which extends the daily working hours from 8 to 12 hours for factory workers.

The VCK Chief released a two-page statement that read, "The Tamil Nadu government has passed the Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2023, amid opposition from coalition parties. This is against the labor welfare policies that the ruling DMKhas been following for many years."

"The basis for May Day is eight hours for workers. To take away the right to clauses of eight hours of work, which is such a historic symbol of victory born of workers' blood, and to raise it to twelve hours is an act against the working class."

"It will further strengthen capitalist dominance. Also, due to this law, the labour community will be subjected to further exploitation of labour and will be severely affected and will affect the credibility of the State government. Therefore, on behalf of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, we urge the Tamil Nadu government to withdraw the Bill immediately."

The Amendment Bill empowers the State government to exempt any factory or group or class or description of factories from any or all of the provisions of Sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, or 59 of the Factories Act, 1948 or the rules made thereunder.

About the Act:

The Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill seeks to insert "65A-Power to exempt in special cases" empowering the state government to exempt any factory or group or class or description of factories from any or all of the provisions of Sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56 or 59 of the Factories Act, 1948 or the rules made thereunder.

On Friday, Minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development CV Ganesan, who tabled the Bill, stated that there is no change in the clauses of 8-hour work, weekly holiday, and additional wages and added that the Bill was brought for industrial flexibility. The Minister also said that the State government is not against any factory as the law has not been brought to all companies and factories, and will be implemented only at places where workers want.

Political parties, including the MDMK, CPI, PMK, AIADMK, and BJP opposed the Bill with Congress staging a walkout from the Assembly.

CITU state president A Soundararajan said that the Bill provisions are aimed open-endedly to empower employers to evade all their statutory obligations in respect of working hours in the workplaces through such mass-scale exemption mechanism in respect of almost all provisions of the Factories Act, both directly and indirectly related to regulations of working hours. "At a time when Western Countries are reducing working hours to 6-7 hours a day and a five-day workweek, increasing the working hours is a retrograde step and a historical blunder. It will have serious health implications, particularly for women," he said.

(With inputs from Bureau)