Loadmen belonging to the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) affiliated to the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Tuesday staged a demonstration near the Assembly demanding the Government to withdraw the Puducherry Loading and Unloading (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act passed in the Legislative Assembly recently.
Sethu Selvam, State council member of CPI termed the Law enacted by the Puducherry Assembly as anti-labour and in support of big businessmen. The Act had provisions giving an employer the right to carry out loading and unloading work for domestic purpose by himself or by employing the workers of his own choice.
The Act also had provisions to take criminal action against loadmen including imprisonment for two years coupled with fines of ₹10,000 if they demand to undertake loading and unloading.
The Government should immediately withdraw the Act and enforce a new Act modelled on the one enacted in Maharashtra to ensure the security of the workers, he said.
