Stalin puts Factories Act amendment law on hold after unions' backlash

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday announced that the implementation of the Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act 2023 would be put on hold.

His announcement came immediately after the government held talks with the trade unions that opposed the bill.

A joint committee of all trade unions comprising of the CITU, the AITUC, the INTUC and even the DMK-affiliated LPF opposed the Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act 2023, which provides for increasing duty hours in factories beyond eight hour shifts.

The AIADMK-affiliated trade union, Anna Thozhirsanga Sanga Peravai also opposed the amendment.

The trade union leaders had lashed out against the amendment bill in a meeting attended by state Public Works Department Minister E.V. Velu, Micro, Small and Medium Industries Minister T.N. Anbarasan, and Labour Welfare Minister C.V.Ganesan at the state Secretariat.

CITU leader A. Soundararajan lashed out at the amendment bill, saying: "It is highly regrettable. We never expected this from the DMK government."

Soundararajan also said that the ministers had promised to convey the views of the trade unions to Chief Minister Stalin.

He said that when the G-20 countries were reducing the working time to seven hours a day and 35 hours a week, Tamil Nadu has come out with a bill that had not specified the time.

"It does not say that it will be increased to 12 hours. It could be increased to 15 hours or more. Increasing the working hours will not only affect the workers but also the quality of the production and work," he said.

Soundararajan also said that the explanations given by the government were not acceptable.