THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Goa Branch on Monday condemned the state government mulling an amendment to the Factories and Boilers Act 1948, saying that the amendment was not in the least pro-worker, and was only a move to benefit the employers even further.
Addressing a press conference at the AITUC headquarters, general secretary Christopher Fonseca said that though the move appeared to be for the emancipation of women, it was in fact trying to further objectify women.
“When the Act says that women should not work beyond 7 pm, the Goa government wants to amend the Act to allow women to work till 10 pm. But what if there are women who cannot work the extra time because of family commitments? Will their contracts be terminated?” questioned Fonseca.
Fonseca said that the AITUC would welcome any changes in law with regards to women as long as the law is truly for the welfare and benefit of women. He also questioned whether the bill was discussed with stakeholders and their families before being approved of. He pointed out that if workers worked at night, they would also need to be paid more.
The AITUC also questioned on what basis the state government was trying to amend a central government legislation. “When the Central government has not changed the Act, how is the state government going ahead with an amendment? They’re just trying to fool the people,” said Fonseca, who was joined by Comrades Adv Suhas Naik and Raju Mangueshkar.
Meanwhile, the AITUC raised a host of other unresolved working class issues. “Minimum wages for Goa have not been notified for the past three years, despite the Supreme Court judgement. We demand that the state government revise the minimum wages to Rs 21,000 per month with linkage to dearness allowance,” he said.
Speaking of the ongoing mining ban in the state which has yet not been resolved, Fonseca asked the government to look into the cases where workers in the mines had been retrenched by the companies without any compensation, as this was against the law, he said.
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