Ramaswami: All the trade unions under the banner of Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU) organised a protest on Monday in front of the Kousalya Bhavan, Labour Commissioner Office in Bangalore against the proposed decision to exempt implementation of labour laws in Karnataka. The BJP-led government in the state plans to ease the existing labour laws to help the employers in the name of helping them get rid of the losses in the wake of Covid-19. Earlier, in a release, JCTU said: “Under the pretext of the COVID-19 lockdown, employers’ bodies are lobbying with the State government to increase working hours to 12 hours a day.” The release also pointed out that amendments were being proposed to permit industries to announce layoffs, terminations and closures without prior permission and exemption of contract labour registration. On May 18, the trade unions plan to hold a statewide protest. The JCTU noted that eight-hour working days and right to stable employment were hard-won rights of the workers.