Goa Industrial Workers Forced To Work 14–16 Hours Without Overtime Pay, Claims AITUC

Panaji, July 9 (PTI) Industrial workers in the coastal state of Goa are being made to toil for 14-16 hours a day without any additional payment, claimed All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) secretary Suhas Naik on Wednesday. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a nationwide protest against the “anti-labour and farmer policies” of the state and central governments.

Several people gathered at Azad Maidan in Panaji in the morning to participate in the pan-India “general strike” called by several central trade unions and farmers’ organisations in protest against the new labour codes and other issues.

“How will Chief Minister Pramod Sawant defend the indefensible? Workers are being made to work for 14 to 16 hours in industrial estates without overtime,” said Naik.

He said that labour unions have filed several complaints against company managements, but no action is being taken.

“Complaints are being put into cold storage, forcing workers to approach courts to seek justice,” he said.

In his address to the crowd, Naik accused the BJP-led NDA government of dismantling existing labour protections through the enforcement of four new labour codes, which he called “exploitative” and “pro-corporate”.

“These codes undermine decades of hard-won labour rights and increase inequality and exploitation,” he said.

The AITUC leader said that the state government has been repeatedly using the Goa Essential Services and Maintenance Act (ESMA) to scuttle strikes in the pharmaceutical sector, one of the prime drivers of the state's economy.

He alleged that the ESMA protects companies violating labour laws and suppresses workers’ rights to form unions. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)

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