‘TN govt should adopt resolution against 4 labour codes’

CHENNAI: After the State government announced that it would repeal the Factories (Tamil Nadu amendment) Bill 2023 extending the workings hours upto 12 hours, CITU state president A Soundararajan demanded the government to pass a resolution against the four labour codes enacted by the BJP government at the Centre.

"The State government passed a Bill to remove the eight-hour work limit but it was withdrawn after the strong protest from the workers. The government should not attempt to bring this amendment into force in any other way. When the union government frames rules for the four labour codes, no change should be made to the working hours. The state should pass a resolution in the Assembly against the four labour codes," Soundararajan said.

He said that he had raised the issue of the four labour codes in the meeting with three senior DMK ministers on April 24 who meet all the trade union leaders. "I pointed out that the labour codes empower the government to increase the working hours through the framing of rules. We wanted the government to oppose the labour codes strongly. But the ministers didn't reply specifically to the demand but said the chief minister would take a good decision," he said.

The Union government passed the four labour codes in the Parliament combining 29 labour laws.

The Tamil Nadu government on April 11, 2022, released draft state rules initially for three codes - Wage rules, Industrial Relation rules and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions rules.

Under the draft Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions rules released by the state government, the CITU asked the government to ensure that the working should be eight hours. "Spread over in a day shall be fixed as ten and half hours instead of 12 hours," the suggestions given by the CITU to the draft rules said. It suggested as many as 51 suggestions for the three draft rules.