TWO DAYS NATION WIDE STRIKE ON 8th & 9th JANUARY 2019
NATIONAL CONVENTION OF WORKERS
28th September 2018, Mavlankar Hall, New Delhi
Draft Declaration
The Central Trade Unions,
independent federations and associations carried forward the decisions adopted
in the National Convention of Workers on 8 th August 2017 at Talkatora Stadium.
The successful holding of three day mahapadav on 9 th-10th-11th Nov., 2017
after about more than three months extensive countrywide campaign was a land
mark in the ongoing struggle to fight back the onslaught of the government
against working people and their trade unions, against hard won labour rights,
anti-labour and pro-employer codifications and violations of existing labour
laws and violation of ILO Conventions. We had demanded concrete measures for
curbing rising prices of essential commodities, creation of new Decent jobs,
minimum wages Rs.18000/- p.m. and minimum Rs.6000/- p.m. pension to all,
stoppage of all moves to sell PSU shares and outright privatization through
various routes like outsourcing, PPP etc, universal social security coverage to
all among other demands. This Mahapadav was followed by the Nationwide strike
by Scheme Workers on 17th January 2018 and then Satyagraha and protests in
almost all the states on varying dates, beginning from 23rd January to 23rd
February 2018.
The Central Government not only
refused to respond to the just and genuine demands of the organized agitation
of the working class, but has been increasing its aggression against the rights
of workers, employees and trade unions. The Bipartism and tripartism is being
undermined. The Govt. is dragging its feet on wage negotiations of public
sector in Bipartite settlements and 7 th Pay Commission anomalies of Central
Government employees. Four Sub Committees were formed by the Government to
address several issues raised by Central Government employees (NCJCA) such as
scraping of New Pension scheme, review the Minimum Wage and fitment formula,
restoration of allowances and allowing option No.I as one of the Pension
Fitment Formula. But nothing has been done.
The Central Government Employees’
Organizations, including the defence and railways, have been planning united
action against the betrayal by the Government and asserting their genuine
demands including scrapping of the New Pension Scheme. This National Convention
extends full support to their struggles and upholds all their demands.
The last Indian Labour Conference
was held in July 2015 and since then no ILC has been held, rather the
circulated dates for ILC were cancelled. There has been no dialogue by the
Government or its Group of Ministers with the trade unions.
The National Convention of
Workers being held today, the 28th September 2018, in Mavlankar Hall, New Delhi
jointly called by the ten Central Trade Unions, in association with all
independent National Federations of Workers and Employees, of both Industrial
and Service sectors viz., Banks, Insurance, Central Government and State
Government employees, Defence Production employees etc., expresses serious
concern over the deteriorating situation in the national economy due to the
pro- corporate, anti-national and anti-people policies pursued by the Central
Government, grievously impacting the livelihood of the working people across
the country.
This National Convention
unanimously condemns in strongest terms the conspiratorial and authoritarian
attack of the present Government to deprive the biggest Central Trade Union in
the country, the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) from all
representations in the tripartite and bipartite fora and committees, including
the international forum. This is nothing but a severe and heinous onslaught on
the rights of the entire trade union movement. It will be unitedly fought back
and this National Convention pledges for that.
The Convention notes with utter
dismay that the Government has been continuing to arrogantly ignore the 12
point Charter of Demands on minimum wage, universal social security, workers’
status and including pay and facilities for the scheme workers, against
privatization of public and government sector including financial sectors and
mass scale contractorisation, ratification of ILO Convention 87 and 98 etc.
being jointly pursued by the entire trade union movement of the country.
Despite numerous nationwide joint strike actions, the most prominent being
those of 2nd September 2015 and 2nd September 2016, participated by crores of
workers against the policies of the Governments, the ruling regime at the
centre has been increasing its onslaught on the rights and livelihood of the
working people of the country. Both the organized as well as unorganized
sectors are victims alike.
Unemployment situation is getting
aggravated with employment generation practically turned negative even in the
most labour intensive sectors. The phenomenon of closure and shut-down of
industries and the forecast of huge job-loss in the IT sector is adding fuel to
the fire. Price-rise of petroleum products, essential commodities including
public transport, electricity, medicines etc is mounting pressure on daily life
of the people in general, leading to widening as well as deepening of
impoverishment. Hasty implementation of GST has further compounded the
hardships. Even essential and lifesaving medicines have been subjected to hefty
GST. Drastic cut in Government expenditure in social sector and various welfare
schemes has made the condition of workers, particularly those in unorganized
sector more precarious. For the establishment of modern labour slavery system,
it has introduced Fixed Term Employment through backdoor, has permitted putting
children below 14 years age to work in a family establishment, has brought in
pro-employer changes in Apprenticeship Act.
The situation due to steep
price-rise in petrol and diesel with cascading effect on increase in prices of
all daily life utility items and specially the food items is resulting in
torturous impact on common masses. The after effects of demonetisation and
faulty GST continue to adversely impacting the deep crises set in the fast
paced neo-liberal economic policies of the Government. Lack of job
opportunities on one hand and continued job losses, retrenchments, illegal
closures on the other hand, are imposing miserable conditions on the ordinary
families for their food, education of children, medical care of the sick and
elderly. No new jobs are being created since the last five years or so despite
heavy increase in work load in general including in the Government and Public
Sector Undertakings. On the contrary, 3% compulsory annual surrender of regular
posts in Government establishments is continuing. In this Government regime
recruitment exam scams like SSB and other competitive exams have rubbed salt on
the wounds of the educated unemployed. In private sector also, massive
downsizing has become a regular phenomenon.
The estimates by independent
surveys and those sponsored by employers’ organizations revealed loss of 70
lakh jobs with closure of 2.34 lakh small factory units in the first few months
of demonetization. The livelihood-loss of another 6 crore people in informal
economy and about 17 lakh job losses in organized sector speaks about the grim
ground reality. Faced with such pathetic records, the Government is busy in
concoction of statistics with twists to make fraudulent claims on employment
generation. Regular Employment Survey which was conducted by Labour Ministry
has been discontinued.
The anti-labour authoritarian
character of the Government is all the more evident in their refusal to
implement even the consensus recommendations (in which the Government was also
a party) of the successive Indian Labour Conferences (ILC) in respect of equal
pay and benefits for equal work for the contract workers, formulation of
minimum wage on the norms agreed by 15th ILC/Supreme Court Judgment and
workers’ status for the scheme workers viz., Anganwadi, Mid-Day-Meal, ASHA,
MGNREGA and Domestic workers etc. Shockingly, the present Government is even
refusing to implement the recent Judgments of the Supreme Court of the country
on the most genuine issue of “equal wage and benefits for equal work” and on
EPS, 1995 on contribution and calculation of pension on actual pay and dearness
allowance.
In the vast construction sector,
which has a huge unorganized workforce, the Government is not taking proper
action on the ruling of the Supreme Court regarding construction workers cess
fund and its utilization in the interest of the construction workers and
benefits and ignoring the Central and State Trade Unions in the decision making
mechanism.
Despite opposition of all the
trade unions in the country irrespective of affiliations, the Government has
been aggressively pushing through its programme of pro-employer and utterly
anti-worker labour law reforms. Government has decided to amalgamate 44 hard
earned Central Labour Laws to enact 4 anti-worker, pro-employer Labour Codes to
facilitate the employers to hire and fire in the name of ‘Ease of doing
Business’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Start Up’ etc. which is aimed at imposing the
conditions of slavery on the working people. The latest onslaught is the move
to evolve a ’Social Security Code’ by dismantling and demolishing the existing
statutory Social Security infrastructure under Employees Provident Fund
Organization, Coal Mines Provident Fund and Employees State Insurance
Corporation and many other welfare statutes, abolition of welfare related cess,
and usurp the huge social security fund contributed to by the workers,
amounting to more than Rs.24 lakh crore and make it available for speculation
in share market under the most deceptive and fraudulent camouflage of
‘universalisation of social security’. The proposed code on Occupational Safety
& Health (OSH) is very dangerous move on the Occupational Safety and Health
including the welfare of the factory and service sector working class.
The fixed term employment adopted
as a Government policy through adoption of finance bill would be death knell
for job security. The latest attack has come on the Trade Union Act 1926, where
the Govt. intends to change the definition of the Central level and state level
trade unions by invoking proposed amendments in Section 28A and 29. The
malafide intention is also to have Government interference in the functioning
of trade unions and usurping rights to dictate on its whims in the internal
matters of unions. It is all done to facilitate “hire and fire” under different
names i.e. “Ease of Doing Business”, “Start Up” etc. It seems like a move to
derecognize the status of Central and State level pro-worker trade unions. The
Labour Ministry, in the name of tri-partite consultation on Labour Law
Amendments, is only putting up a show and to create a record of consultation,
which the Central Trade Unions have consistently boycotted.
Privatization of all strategic
PSUs, including Defence Production, Public Sector Banks and Insurance and also
Railways, public road transport, oil, power, steel, coal etc through
disinvestment, strategic sale, outsourcing in favour of private sector,
promoting 100 per cent FDI in many vital and strategic sectors are increasing
day by day. Moreover stripping all the cash rich PSUs of the investible cash
reserves are added assaults. In fact Defence Sector privatization move is
actually designed to destroy manufacturing capability and Research initiatives
developed by the country over last six and half decades. The worst and most
dubious is the game plan to outsource more than 50 per cent products including
weapons and critical equipments, so long being produced by the Ordinance
establishments. More than 250 items manufactured by Ordnance Factories have
been notified as non-core. Orders are placed to private players for supply of
some of these items. Government is determined to close down 5 Ordnance
Factories manufacturing items used by our soldiers and Officers and it would
render thousands of workers jobless, including 1600 female Tailors. Defence
PSUs and Shipyards are also being subjected to discrimination in respect of
work orders while private corporates are being patronized by the Government in
defence procurement deals.
Complete privatization of the
Railways, step by step, is going on. Operating private trains on the existing
tracks built by Railways is being permitted. Moreover free access to railway
yards, sheds and workshops for maintenance of private coaches, wagons and
engines etc. is being offered to private operators. Already 23 railway
stations, all in metro cities, have been shortlisted for privatisation. More
than 600 Railway Stations along with land around them have been identified for
development through private players in the name of “redevelopment of Railway
Stations and land around them”. It was part of Budget speech of the Finance
Minister. Workers not only in Railways but in all Government and Public Sector
Undertakings shall be worst victims of privatization in terms of job security,
democratic trade union rights and protection of achievements in the areas of
pay, perks, social security etc. Like Central Electricity Regulatory Authority
(CERC), a Railway Development Authority (RDA) has been created. Given the
skyrocketing increase in electricity tariff by CERC, under RDA, railway fare
and goods freight is poised to be hiked, hurting the common people and
benefiting the private profiteers.
The exposures of various
corruptions by the BJP led NDA Govt. in the centre shows the real face of the
ruling clique and Rafael deal is biggest scam yet being unearthed step by step.
Public Sector Banks are under
attack through various legislative and executive measures. The ultimate target
of the Government is privatization and to extend undue favour to the same
private corporate crooks, whose default of paying back the loan has put the
banking sector in severe difficulties. Instead of addressing the problems of
NPA and fixing the corporate defaulters, the Government is going ahead with its
scheme of merger of banks, which in reality leads to closure of numerous branches,
resulting in job-losses and narrowing of the outreach of the PSU Banks. NPAs
have crossed Rs. 13 lakh crores. After Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya, now Neerav
Modi and Mehul Choksy have also dodged the Indian system and run away with the
loot of Indian people’s money. The Government brought FRDI Bill which was
opposed tooth and nail by the unions forcing Government to withdraw it. But now
the Government has come out with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which is aimed
to facilitate the corporate defaulters to go away with major part of the debt
default under the camouflage of so-called “resolution process of insolvency”.
Banks will get back hardly 30 per cent of their due loan amount. This is
another big scam in the making which would further damage the crises ridden
economy.
The retrenchment of contractual
employees has been resorted to already in some banks and telecom sector.
Insurance sector is also under such attack. Legislative measures to pave the
way of privatization of our major ports are also in the advanced stage. CPSUs
even including the core and strategic sectors like Energy, Petroleum, Telecom,
Metal, Mining, Machine Building, Electronic and Digital, Road, Air and Water
Transport, Port & Dock and more are under the privatization onslaught of
the Government. In J & K, the entire land and building of the production
unit of the sole PSU, ITI Ltd., is being taken over in the name of building an
NSG Hub there. The Convention notes that workers of these industries are
fighting sectoral battles unitedly. United struggles have been launched by the
workers and employees of Government Services Sector including the Scheme
Workers, Domestic workers, Migrant workers and unorganized sector workers. The
Convention extends full support to these struggles. It also demands that one
rank one pension sanctioned to some should be uniformly implemented for all
Defence employees.
Attempts are being made by many
state governments to dismantle Public sector road transport by issuing
route-permits to private parties. The central government intends to get the new
Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2017 hastily passed in the parliament which will
allow wholesale privatisation of road transport on the one hand and impose
draconian measures on the road transport workers including those in private
sector. The Rajasthan Road Transport Workers Union is spearheading militant
struggle against even the precursor of this bill (Road Transport & Safety
Bill, 2014) by forging alliance with other trade unions in the sector, since
its inception in 2014. Even now, they are on indefinite strike since 16th
September, 2018 against Rajasthan Transport Minister’s volte-face on his
assurances and attempts to privatise the depots. The Convention while taking
note of the protest action by transport workers, salutes the Road Transport
Workers of Maharashtra who demonstrated excellent communication skill, rock
hard determination, commitment and unity while observing 4 days State wide
general strike to press for their genuine demands despite use of all repressive
measures by Government and also disruption by some black sheep., The Convention
also notes the widely participated countrywide strike by Road Transport workers
on 7 th August 2018 against the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill. The Convention
condemns the state Governments, including the state governments of Haryana and
Rajasthan and central Government’s anti people and anti worker moves in the
transport sector.
The National Convention of
Workers extends full solidarity to the fighting farmers in various states as
well as under the Joint National Forums of Peasants’ Organizations, including
the struggle of STs for implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006. It is the
same set of pro-corporate, pro-landlord policies which have created a severe
crisis in agriculture, biggest livelihood provider in the economy, leading to
continuing increase in spate of suicides. The promised Minimum Support Prices,
one and half times the cost of production, to farmers was not accomplished,
rather further fraud was committed on the farming community with the kind of
announcements made on MSP for their crops.
This National Convention of
Workers records its strong denunciation against the communal and divisive
machinations on the society being carried on with the active patronage of the
Government machinery. The BJP Governments are using draconian UAPA, NSA as well
as the agencies of CBI, NIA, IT to harass and suppress any dissenting opinions.
The peace loving secular people in the country are facing a stark situation of
terror and insecurity all around. Communal forces are cultivating an atmosphere
of conflicts within the society on non-issues. It is disrupting the unity of
the workers and the toiling people in general, so vital to carry forward the
ongoing struggles based on our 12-point Charter of Demands as detailed above.
Working Class must raise its strong voice of protest.
This anti-people, anti-workers
and anti-national policy regime has not only been imposing increasing miseries
on the toiling people at large, it is also severely damaging the national
economy and destroying its indigenous productive and manufacturing capabilities
to serve the interests of the multinational companies with Indian corporates as
their junior partner. This anti-people and anti-national policy regime must be
defeated squarely to force the pro-people changes in policies on all fronts.
And for that, the united platform of the working class must heighten its
struggle further.
The task before the Joint
Platform of Central Trade Unions and independent national federations is to
further intensify the surging struggles in various sectors through a concerted
united agitation and mobilization at national level to be followed by
countrywide general strike action as a culmination and consolidation of all sectoral
struggles.
The National Convention of workers therefore adopts the following
programmes:
1.State level, district level and
industry/sector level joint conventions to be held during October/November 2018
2. Joint Industry-level gate
meetings, rallies etc. during November and December.
3. Submission of strike notice
jointly with demonstrations during 17-22 December.
4. Two days countrywide General
Strike on 8th and 9th January 2019.
The National Convention calls
upon working people across the sectors and throughout the country irrespective
of affiliations to make the above programmes a total success.
INTUC AITUC HMS CITU
AIUTUC
TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF
UTUC
And Independent
Federations of Workers and Employees
***
No comments:
Post a Comment