Workers Unity Movement hails the victory of IT workers’ consistent struggle
Report by correspondent of the Workers’ Unity Movement
On 28 July, the Karnataka government announced the withdrawal of its earlier plan to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961. The draft amendment had proposed that employees could work up to 10 hours a day and 48 hours a week, with total working hours – including overtime – capped at 12 hours per day. It had also sought to raise the permissible overtime limit from 50 hours to 144 hours over a three-month period.
The announcement of withdrawal of the amendment came in response to sustained opposition from employee unions. KITU had led widespread protests and continuous campaigns against the bill since the last six weeks – in IT parks, on public roads, and outside IT company offices – drawing large participation. The union had warned the government that it would not allow such a bill to be passed under any circumstances. The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) hailed this announcement as a victory of their consistent opposition to such a move.
KITU’s representatives had strongly opposed the move at the tripartite talks convened by the Labour Department on 18 June where the amendment Bill was presented. The State government was following an advisory from the Union government urging states to review and update work hour regulations in line with evolving industrial needs.
Already, IT workers in the state are facing immense pressure from their employers to accept that working long hours is a necessity in the IT industry. Employees of IT companies are under pressure to respond to calls any time of day and night and during vacations. The IT workers’ unions have expressed their apprehension that the amendment actually seeks to stretch the legal maximum of 10 hours per day (including overtime) to justify 12-hour shifts. This may pave the way for a two-shift system, cutting the workforce by one-third.
Workers are not slaves. They sell their labour-power to the capitalists for a fixed length of time every day. The rest of the time belongs to the worker to spend as he or she chooses. A strict limit on the length of the working day is therefore a right which belongs to all workers. This right was won through years of struggle of the working class. An 8-hour working day is a universal right across all sectors and categories of workers.
Forcing the government to roll back this anti-worker amendment is a victory for the IT workers. It is also a victory for all workers in struggle for their rights in the face of increasing attacks on them by the capitalists. Such laws and regulations that seek to legitimize attacks on workers’ fundamental right to a personal life, to form unions, to go on strike and protest must be relentlessly opposed. Workers must unite across sectors and industries to demand these rights.