In support of an 8-hour workday for all

‘Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what you will’ was the rallying slogan across the industrial centres of America in the 1880s, when the daily work hours were in excess of 12 hours. The eight hours’ movement,” as it was popularly known, called for a national general strike on May 1, 1886, and the strike turned violent, with the police opening fire on a peaceful agitation of 10,000 workers in Haymarket, Chicago, killing four workers. The historic eight-hour movement is celebrated across the world in the form of International Workers Day on May 1 every year. The eight hours’ movement is a singularly significant event as it influenced working-class struggles across the world for a shorter workday, and eventually, in the 20th century, the workday was limited to 8 hours globally.

Recently, the state government of Karnataka passed a bill in the budget session of the assembly to amend the Factories Act to: increase the daily working day to 12 hours (inclusive of breaks); allow women workers to work night shifts; and increase permissible overtime hours from 75 hours to 140 hours per quarter. These amendments not only betray an ignorance of the international character of the eight-hour movement but also go against the global trend of a reduction of the workday.

Also Read: How to tackle employee burnout and build a better workplace

The increase in daily working hours poses serious challenges in terms of industrial safety. The increased working hours of 12 hours will increase the workers fatigue, thereby increasing the possibility of industrial accidents. It is an established fact that working the night shift is not only less productive but also more hazardous in terms of industrial accidents and injuries to workers. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was due to mistakes made at 1.23 am during the night shift. There are WHO and ILO studies linking long working hours with fatigue and lack of sleep to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, depression, and anxiety. The idea of lengthening the night shift to 12 hours is fraught with serious long-term health and safety consequences.

It would be wise to take a look at the working hours across the other G20 nations as a rough benchmark of global standards. European nations have reduced the weekly limit to 40 hours; countries like France have reduced the weekly limit to 35 hours; and Australia to 38 hours. None of the G20 countries, including China and the USA, have daily working hours in excess of 8 hours. In Portugal, the work week was reduced from 44 to 40 hours per week, which resulted in positive employment generation. The general global trend is towards a reduction of working hours (daily or weekly) to reap the benefits of higher productivity and employment generation.

According to the statement of objects to the amendment presented to the Karnataka assembly, the amendment would provide equality and equal opportunity for women to work and earn. Let us examine the facts. There are a total of 17,857 factories registered, employing a total of 17,53,327 workers. There are approximately 400 garment factories that employ over six lakh women. The garment sector employs more than 80% of the women in all industries. The government of Karnataka has recently revised the minimum wage for the garment sector to Rs 10,428 per month for an unskilled worker, whereas the wage for an unskilled worker in the automobile sector is Rs 14,366 per month. This translates to a significant difference of Rs 3,900 per month between the predominantly male workforce in the automobile sector and the predominantly female workforce in the garment sector. So much for the tall claims for gender equality.

Also Read: 24% of Indians are struggling with stress: Report

The statements of gender equality are nothing but Orwellian doublespeak to couch the anti-worker nature of this amendment. One can only begin to dread the conditions of garment workers on the night shift in garment factories, with exploitative employment practices and poor working conditions.

The recent case of industrial violence at the Apple iPhone manufacturing facility in 2020 should serve as an eye-opener for us. The images of the industrial violence triggered by exploitative employment practices created an international furore. The factory was operating on two 12-hour shifts in open violation of our laws. The Wistron factory is an assembly unit for phones, employing about 10,000 workers, of whom more than 7,000 are hired on a “contractual” basis for jobs of a perennial nature, paying wages barely over the meager minimum wage.

Even after the international fracas and after Apple has openly admitted to violations in the supplier company, it is a matter of regret that women are regularly employed in 8-hour night shifts even today in the same factory.

We are in a unique situation where the laws of the land are tweaked overnight to favour the exploitative practices of a few large firms, and it is a matter of greater concern that the amendment was passed without a whisper of discussion in the state assembly. This amendment is only aimed at allowing the exploitation of workers by large firms. As Karl Marx summed up, “the determination of what is a working day presents itself as the result of a struggle, a struggle between collective capital, i.e., the class of capitalists, and collective labour, i.e., the working class,” with the State firmly behind the capitalist class.

(The writer is the General Secretary of AITUC Bengaluru)