Human Rights Forum slams Andhra Pradesh's 10-hour workday bill as assault on labour rights, demands immediate rollback
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This is an irresponsible and deliberate assault on labour rights and dignity. We demand its immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
This move, sought to be brought about through an amendment to The Factories Act, 1948, is no 'reform' as the govt is dressing it up, but a grotesque regression. It is plainly exploitative and treats with contempt decades of labour struggles that advocated for and attained a humane and sustainable work environment.
These rights have a long and glorious history, wrested through generations of hard-fought battles led by the working class and progressive movements. The state govt now seeks to dismantle these rights to benefit corporate interests.
The HRF team, Y Rajesh (AP State General Secretary) and VS Krishna (AP and TG Coordination Committee Member), mentioned that the 8-hour workday is the cornerstone of modern labour rights.
It was not a benevolent capitalist handout but realised through decades of working-class resistance.
We recall the historic legacy of BR Ambedkar, who played a decisive role in institutionalising the 8-hour workday. He was, in many ways, its architect.
Ambedkar's relentless efforts in the 1940s, in conjunction with working-class struggles, led to an 8-hour cap on daily work, thereby curtailing cruel and lengthy work hours.
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This is now being sought to be rolled back, they added.
HRF believes that the much-bandied-about 'ease/speed of doing business' has become a euphemism for gutting labour rights to appease capital. In 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 strips away dignity from labour.
This measure constitutes a fundamental breach of the govt's constitutional obligations. HRF calls upon all democratic forces to oppose this devious and retrograde move.
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