IT/ITES workers in Karnataka move towards agitation

IT/ITES workers in Karnataka are preparing to agitate against the Karnataka government's anti-worker move to increase working hours for workers in the IT sector. Workers will gather at Freedom Park in Bangalore, Karnataka, on August 3.

The Karnataka government's move to raise working hours in the IT sector to 14 hours will affect about 20 lakh workers. What the Karnataka government is trying to implement by amending the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act is an encroachment on every worker's basic right to lead a personal life. The move overrides the objections of the trade unions. The existing law allowed only a maximum of 10 hours of work a day, including overtime. Large campaigns against the proposed amendment have been carried out in recent days under the leadership of the Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union.

The CITU all-India committee recorded its protest against the Karnataka government's anti-worker move to increase working hours to 14 hours, and declared solidarity with the struggles of IT and ITES employees against the amendment.