Massive Mobilization of IT & ITES Employees in Bangalore Under the Banner of Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU) Against Karnataka Government’s Move to Increase Working Hours
Bangalore, August 3, 2024 - A large number of IT and ITES employees, under the banner of the Karnataka State IT/ITES Employees Union (KITU), assembled at Freedom Park in Bangalore to protest against the proposal to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to facilitate a 14-hour workday. Dr. G Manjunath from the Karnataka Labour Department attended the protest and received the memorandum from KITU leadership.
The proposed bill, the ‘Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2024,’ seeks to normalize a 14-hour workday. Currently, the act allows a maximum of 10 hours of work per day, including overtime, which would be entirely removed under the amendment. This change would enable IT/ITES companies to extend daily working hours indefinitely.
During the address, the KITU leadership highlighted various studies on the health impacts of extended working hours on IT employees. Comrade Suhas Adiga, General Secretary of the union, stated that the proposed amendment is an attack on workers' basic right to personal life and said that the union will resist any efforts to implement this change. He urged the government to withdraw the proposal and warned that any move to proceed with the amendment would be met with strong resistance from IT and ITES sector employees. KITU is prepared to lead this resistance.
For the past two weeks, IT and ITES employees in Karnataka, under KITU’s leadership, have been preparing for this demonstration. Gate meetings and street campaigns across Bangalore, with thousands of participants, have been conducted to build momentum for the protest.
