The DMK government, led by Chief Minister MK Stalin, has made yet another U-turn by implementing a 12-hour work shift by amending the factories act, which he opposed while in opposition.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly today passed the Factories (Amendment) Act 2023, which provides flexible working hours for employees in factories throughout the state, despite protests and claims by several parties that the Act would increase mandatory working hours from 8 hours to 12 hours.
Tamil Nadu Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, on the other hand, assured that the total working hours in a week would remain unchanged for workers, who would now be able to work four days a week and take three days off. “This would greatly benefit female workers,” he said.
The clarification by the Ministers on the amendments to the TN Factories Act, 2023, comes after protests and a walkout from the Assembly by the Left parties, the Congress, and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) when the bill was taken up for discussion on the final day of the Assembly session today.
As the ruling DMK enjoyed a majority in the Tamil Nadu assembly, the bill was passed by voice vote. The government was backed by allies such as the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).
Labour Welfare Minister CV Ganesan said, “”Representations were received from many industries and industry associations by the State government to bring out working hour reforms by making statutory provision for flexible working hours, citing the number of benefits it could bring for workers, especially women employees, industry and the economy as a whole.”
The minister said, “This is not an anti-worker act. It will be treated as a special case to firms, and the government will only implement it after careful consideration.”
However, while in opposition in 2020, MK Stalin opposed the BJP-led state governments’ amendment of labour laws to increase work hours from 8 to 12 hours. In 2020, the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh decided to stay some of the provisions of the labour laws for three years while also announcing a series of changes to boost investments harmed by COVID-19. Gujarat joined the league after relaxing some labour laws and increasing working hours from 8 to 12 hours.
Opposing changes to labour laws by BJP governments in 2020, MK Stalin said, “The Prime Minister should issue a special advisory to all state governments, at least in his capacity as Chairperson of National Disaster Management Authority, that factories must abide by all labour laws and that no state government should disregard any of them.”
He described the amendments as “anti-worker and anti-people autocratic measures,” claiming that they extended the 8-hour workday to 12 hours and denied workers’ rights and protection.
“From the beginning, the BJP government has refused to acknowledge that workers are the backbone of the economy. They are now siding with the employers in order to exploit the workers’ hard work,” Stalin said. “Dispensing with the labour laws only reveals the dangerous ulterior motive of the BJP governments,” Stalin added.
However, in a complete 180-degree turn, the DMK government led by MK Stalin has passed labour law amendments that they opposed while in opposition.
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