HRF condemns AP Cabinet's proposed 10-hour work day
In a statement on Tuesday, V. Rajesh, HRF AP State general secretary, and V.S. Krishna – HRF AP & TG Coordination Committee member—said that the amendment to the Factories Act, 1948, is no 'reform' but rather a regressive and exploitative move. It undermines decades of hard-fought battles by the working class that established a humane and sustainable working environment.
The HRF leaders pointed out that the State government now seeks to dismantle these rights to benefit corporate interests. The 8-hour workday is the cornerstone of modern-day labour rights, achieved through decades of working-class resistance. B.R. Ambedkar, who played a decisive role in institutionalising the 8-hour workday, was in many ways its architect. Ambedkar's relentless efforts in the 1940s, in conjunction with the working-class struggles, led to an 8-hour cap on daily work. This is now being sought to be rolled back.
Mr. Krishna and Mr. Rajesh noted that HRF was of the view that the much-talked-about 'ease/speed of doing business' has become a euphemism for curtailing labour rights so as to appease the capital investors. In the current policy discourse in the State, 'attracting investment' is shorthand for systematic deregulation, casualisation, weakening of regulatory oversight, and erosion of labour rights.
Extending the maximum daily working hours amounts to entrenching exploitation and a rollback of hard-won labour safeguards. It normalises overwork, erodes the right to rest and leisure, and deprives workers of dignity from labour. This measure constitutes a fundamental breach of the government's Constitutional obligations.
The HRF leaders called upon all democratic forces to oppose this devious and retrograde move.
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