AIFTU(n) CALLING TO THE WORKING MEN AND WOMEN TO STRIKE ON 20 - 21 FEB. 2013.

Long Live Revolution Workers Peasant, Student-Youth Intellectuals Unite

Make All India Strike against Anti-Worker Policy of the Government

On 20 – 21 February 2013

Call to the Working men and women by All India Federation of Trade Unions (New)

Friends,

                    As a consequence of New Economic and Industrial Policy being implemented since last 21 years by Central and State Governments in our Country millions of workers, peasants, and other working people are living in dire poverty, destitution, unemployment, lack of education and healthcare. The percentage of permanent workers has been reduced to mere 5 – 6 percent now due to outsourcing and contractualisation of work of permanent nature. Today 94% workmen are engaged in irregular, contract, casual, self-employment and agricultural sectors. As per the report of Dr.Arjun Sengupta Committee report 77% of people (nearly 94 crore people) live on Rs.20, or less per person per day on 2004 price level. On the other hand MNCs, Indian Corporate Houses, Capitalists, Contractors, ruling class leaders, and bureaucrats are minting money to the tunes of millions and billions of rupees per year. Congress led UPA and BJP led NDA, along with other regional parties ruling in different states are serving the interest of handful of ruling classes, and making the vast masses destitute through different methods including out-sourcing and contractualisation of work. Even teachers and doctors are being recruited on contract by the governments and education and healthcare has been commercialized by encouraging privatization. As a result education and healthcare has gone out of reach of the common man. On top of these essential commodities including food has become very costly due to continuing price rise. On the pretext of giving momentum to economic growth the Central Government under Dr.Manmohan Singh has recently hiked the price of diesel, cooking gas, railway fare. As a result the prices of all commodities have further increased due to increase in freight charges as most things are transported using diesel. This has further increased the price of food items. Due to this the life of common man has become even more pitiable and he is being pushed into debt trap. This crisis has forced lakhs of peasants to commit suicide and made life of millions of workers and peasants extremely difficult. The decision of the Central Government to open retail trade for foreign MNCs is going to endanger the livelihood of millions of people engaged in retail trade. In the same way large tracks of land belonging to peasants and Adivasis has been doled out to MNCs and Indian Corporate houses causing large scale displacement of peasants and Adivasis. It is because of this that millions of peasants and Adivasis are vigorously opposing acquisition of land in the interest of national and international capitalists and industrialists. The example of Nandigram and Singur are fresh in the minds of people. The struggling people of Nandigram forced the Central Government to amend SEZ law and the effort to grab the land of peasants by the state government by force was defeated. On the other hand, the number of the dollar billionaires in India has surpassed Japan, England, France, Russia and China. The maximum black money stashed in foreign banks belongs to Indian rich. Such is the dimension of rich-poor divide in our country.

                    The working class has opposed these policies tooth and nail.  The working class movements in Honda, Graziano, Maruti Suzuki, Kanpur Textile Sector are a few examples of this. There are movements of workers going in different parts of the country. Eight hours working is grossly violated everywhere in different ways. P.F. money is not being deposited as per the law by the owners of the companies, on the one hand, and the government has decreased the interest rate of P.F. on the other. All the labor laws, which are in workers’ interest, are being violated by the management openly and regularly. Tea garden workers are forced to work on wages less than the minimum wage fixed by the government. The government has failed to reopen the closed textile mills of Kanpur even after making promises to do it. The textile workers are sitting on dharna from years and their struggle is going on. New employment in Coal India Ltd. has been stopped since last 21 years, and the essential work of coal production has been outsourced to private contractors. Privatization of coal mines is also going on full speed in which India’s largest scam was detected by the C.A.G. Contract and construction workers have no social security, including job security.

                    This situation demands decisive struggle. But the mainstream T.U leadership gets satisfied by giving on strike call, or a big protest rally in a year. As a result, the industrialist and capitalist class is snatching the hard won rights of the workers continuously, and are resorting to repressive measures. So, we appeal to the working class and the common masses to make all India Strike on 20 – 21 February a grand success, and get prepared for a decisive battle to safeguard their rights. For this we, the working people, must strengthen our class unity for further struggle.

Our main demands:

1.     Roll back the policies of Globalization, Privatization and Liberalization.

2.     Take effective measures to arrest price rise and provide food security to all.

3.     Labor laws must be implemented strictly Management found violating labor laws must be punished.

4.     Start fresh recruitment of labor in all Public Sector Undertakings including Coal India Ltd.

5.     Constitute Wage Board for Tea Garden workers.

6.     Reopen all closed State sector industries including textile and fertilizer.

7.     Declare Rs.12, 500 per month as the minimum wage for industrial workers.

8.     Ensure social security to all workmen.

9.     Stop disinvestment of shares in PSUs and nationalized banks.

10.   Implement equal pay for equal work everywhere.

11.   Scrap new pension policy and provide pension to all.

12.   Formulate concrete planning and policy to provide employment to all.

13.   Pay minimum 12% rate of interest on P.F.

14.   Make registration of Trade Unions within 45 days mandatory.

15.   Make special arrangement for security of female workers, especially for those who have to work till late night.

16.   Take effective steps to stop land grab by land mafia and industry.

17.   Stop discrimination against Adivasis, Dalits, Woken, Minorities, and other vulnerable sections of society. Ensure equality for all.

18.   Stop pro-imperialist and pro-capitalist development policies, and implement people oriented development polities.

With revolutionary greetings,

All India Federation of Trade Unions (New)

JOINT CALL TO THE WORKING CLASS.

JOINTCALLTOTHE WORKING CLASS.

Make the Feb. 20, 21 Strike A Success.

Fight the Pro-Imperialist Economic policies of the UPA government.

The UPA government in the Center is pursuing policies that are essentially in favor of the big corporate houses in the country and imperialist capital has been proved once more with its decision to open the retail sector to foreign direct investment, despite opposition to it. The Prime Minister’s statement that the reform process would go on indicates the further drive towards policies that benefit foreign capital. Equally true is the fact that the earlier UPA and NDA governments followed the same pro-imperialist policies.

The experience in the last twenty one years has amply demonstrated the ill and adverse effects of the pro-imperialist economic policies of the ruling classes of the country. These policies lead to a crisis situation in the agrarian sector resulting in many farmers ending their lives. In the industrial and service sectors of the economy the structure of employment underwent drastic changes with contractualisation and casualisation of the labor force. Temporary labor outnumbers the regular work force in both the public and private sectors. It should be noted that such an employment structure enables the owners to depress wages and to disorganize the workers. Outsourcing is another feature that has emerged in a big way under the new economic policies as a menace of securing reduction in costs of labor. Wage-cut, DA freeze, retrenchments, closures, lay-offs have increased in this period. The social security structure is being subtly dismantled and the right to union has been under severe attack as in the case of Honda and many other units.

Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization et al were hailed by the rulers as paths to the economic development of the country. Growth rates were shown as indicators of this development. Needless to say, this growth was fueled primarily by inflows of foreign capital and that too speculative capital resulting in the creation of bubbles in the share markets. So tied is the Indian economy to the strings of imperialism particularly to US imperialism, that when the bubble in the US burst it had its effects on the Indian economy resulting in its downturn and displacing thousands of workers from jobs, particularly in the export-led industries.

The imperialist countries were trying to salvage their economies from the devastating crisis that enveloped them. In our country, as part of the above policies, the drive of the government has been to secure natural resources and minerals for the big corporate and the multinationals. This has resulted in large scale displacement of the peasantry and adivasis from their lands. Large tracts of land with rich mineral sources have been given off on a platter to corporate houses and MNC’s thus placing people’s assets in their hands.

In the back drop of ever growing job-losses, wage cuts on other benefits, attacks on trade union rights, workers have not taken these attacks lying down. They have put up stiff resistance as in the case of Honda, Graziano, and Maruti etc. The adivasis and peasants have also fought for the protection of their land and in fact their militant struggles assume immense importance in the struggles against the pro-imperialist economic policies of the rulers.

It is an imperative necessity in this situation that all sections of workers should unite in action to resist the continuing onslaught of the ruling classes. This necessity is evident from the act of joint calls being given by trade union centers, including those associated with ruling parties, on some of the burning issues confronting the workers at large.

To defeat the government policies, a sustained struggle will have to build against the neo liberal policies of imperialist globalization. Many central trade unions are still associated with the parties that are implementing these policies. The trade union movement will have to fight not only for immediate economic demands but also against these policies. We therefore give the call to all unions struggling against imperialist globalization to come together to take the movement ahead.

The emergence of unity at the national level under immense working class pressure and rising discontent give space for such a unity on the ground for struggle. This mood has to be forged into unity for struggle and resistance at the local level. We have to initiate joint actions to unite wider sections of the working class, deepen the understanding of class struggle under the imperialist globalization, demonstrate militancy in joint programs and sustain the momentum of the general strike

DEMANDS:

1.   Concrete measures to contain price rice and to ensure universal food security with 50 kg cereals along with pulses and cooking oil per family.

2.   Concrete measures for employment generation.

3.   Strict enforcement of labor laws and action against non-complaint managements.

4.   Universal social security for all workers in the unorganized and organized sectors.

5.   Stop disinvestment in PSUs and privatization.

6.   Stop employment of contract labor in all jobs of a permanent nature. Payment of wages to contract workers on par with the regular workers.

7.   Ensure a minimum wage not less than that computed on the basis of the formula put forward at the 15^th session of the Indian labor conference in 1957.

8.   Removal of ceilings on payment and eligibility of bonus and provident fund rate of interest must be retained at least 12%.

9.   Assure pension for all which should not be less than the minimum wage.

10.               Compulsory registration of Trade Unions within 45 days.

11.               Equal wage for similar work for all workers including women workers.

12.               Special measures for protection of women workers especially those required to work till late.

13.               Stop encroachment of land natural resources of peasantry, adivasis and Dalits and wanton destruction environment.

Stop all discrimination against Adivasis, Dalits  women and minorities. Establish substantial equality.

UNITE TO STRIKE WORK ON FEB.20and21.

BUILD RESISTANCE AGAINST IMPERIALIST GLOBALIZATION.

AIFTU (new) (All India Federation of Trade Unions)(new)

IFTU (India Federation of Trade Unions)

NTUI (New Trade Union Initiative)

AIFTU (All India Federation of Trade Unions)

PKS

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