Date:09/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/12/09/stories/2005120907410600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

CPI(M) stages walkout in Assembly

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: Members of the Communist Party of India-Marxist staged a walkout from the Assembly in protest against the passage of the Industrial Disputes (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2005, an enactment, they said, would strangle the rights of the working classes.

The Bill was passed on Thursday evening amidst vociferous protests by the members of the TDP, CPI, TRS and BJP. The law makes the activity of 100 per cent export-oriented units and those in export processing zones public utility services on a permanent basis and is aimed at avoiding strikes and lockouts without notice by suitably amending the original Industrial Disputes Act of 1947.

Piloting the bill, Minister for Labour G. Vinod said it was aimed at attracting foreign investment.