People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No.
10
March 07, 2010
|
Vol. XXXIV
No.
10 March 07, 2010 |
Issues before the
13th CITU Conference
M K
Pandhe
A TOTAL of 2,500 delegates are
coming from all over
A GAIN OF
STRUGGLES
As a result of sustained
struggles conducted by CITU
unions in all corners of the country, the CITU membership has increased
from 40
lakhs to over 50 lakhs. Thus the CITU unions have more than fulfilled
the call
given by the 12th conference, at the initiative of the then general
secretary
Chittabrata Majumdar. The membership would have gone still higher but
for the failure
of several unions to submit the record and affiliation fee in time. The
result
is that their membership could not be included for the purpose of
calculating
their delegate quotas to the CITU conference.
The 12th conference of the CITU
was held when the Left
parties were supporting the government of
In the last parliamentary
elections, the UPA government
got a majority on its own and could form a government on its own. The
weakening
of the Left parties in the polls created an unfavourable political
situation
for the working class since the UPA government is now seeking to
implement the neo-liberal
policies of globalisation more forcefully. The trade union movement has
to
strengthen its resistance to the pro-capitalist policies of the UPA
government
in order to protect the interests of the working class and the toiling
people.
POWERFUL UNITED
STRUGGLES
The struggle of the unorganised
workers was an
important development during the last three years, which culminated in
a one
day all
The CITU has also made advances
in the working women�s
movement. The struggles of anganwadi, mid-day meal and ASHA workers are
on the
rise and some concessions could be obtained through these struggles.
The CITU
membership among working women has now increased to about 25 per cent,
and more
and more women are participating in the leading policy making bodies of
the
CITU. The CITU conference will have to consider how to strengthen this
trend so
that women may play their due role in the trade union movement.
The one day national general
strike at the call of the
Sponsoring Committee in 2008 was a milestone in the united movement of
the
working class of our country. The participation of the workers was the
largest
ever in the country. Even the workers belonging to the INTUC and BMS
participated in the action, indicating the growing desire of the
working class for
united struggles.
The workers� struggles in the
coal, steel,
construction, jute, water transport and other industries have indicated
a
rising curve of working class struggles all over
The deteriorating working and
living conditions of the
working class has brought together the entire trade union movement in
the
country, irrespective of their ideological differences. The INTUC and
BMS, which
were keeping away from the united movement of the working class, and to
join the
united working class movement due to the new situation created in the
country.
The rising prices of essential
commodities, collapse
of public distribution system and restricting the ration at cheap
prices only
to the persons who come under the fictitious category of persons below
the
poverty line have caused strong resentment among large sections of the
working
class.
Growing unemployment in the
country has further
aggravated due to the global economic crisis.
Thought the government gave over Rs four lakh crore as bailout
package
for the big business houses, the workers who lost their jobs due to the
crisis
did not get any relief. The Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is
seething with
corruption and mismanagement, and people failed to get full benefits of
the
scheme. Though job was promised for 100 days for every worker, workers
hardly
got work for 52 days; for the rest of the days they did not get any
unemployment allowance that was promised. This added to the gravity of
the
situation.
COLLAPSE OF
LABOUR LAWS
The collapse of labour laws has
been universal and
employers openly violated the laws with impunity. Minimum wages are not
being paid
wherever the trade union movement is weak; 12 hours work is being
extracted
from workers without paying overtime wages. A large number of units
stand closed
down without any permission from the government. Even the formation of
a union
invites brutal repression from the musclemen hired by the corporate
houses. Multinational
companies are blatantly violating all the labour laws of the land but
the UPA government
goes on ignoring their violation on the plea that it would reduce
foreign
investment in the country. In the special economic zones (SEZs), with
the connivance
of the central government, labour laws are not being implemented.
Regarding the unorganised
workers, the bill passed by the
government did not grant them any monetary benefit. The central trade
unions
demanded creation of a special fund by taxing the rich and giving
social
security benefits to the unorganised workers. In the recent budget the
government
provided only Rs 1000 crore which will not touch the fringe of the
unorganised
workers� problems. According to Dr Arjun Sengutpa committee report,
about 30 to
40 thousand crore of rupees would be required to give even elementary
social
security to the workers.
Trade unions have also opposed
the disinvestment drive
of the UPA government. This year it has decided to raise Rs 25,000
crore by
disinvesting public sector shares; ultimately 49 per cent of the shares
in the
public sector units would be sold in the share market.
Trade unions observed a National
Protest Day on
October 28, 2009 and staged a dharna before parliament on December 16,
2009. They
also staged a Satyagraha and Jail Bharo on March 5 and further
programmes of
action will be decided later.
The CITU conference has to find
out ways of strengthening
the united movement of the working class. This unity should go down to
the
grassroots level so that it gets stabilised. Local level actions must
be strengthened
so that the united movement may bring sufficient pressure on the
government of
India. The mass mobilisation in joint movements has to be strengthened
many
times more, so that its capacity to pressurise the government would be
intensified.
The CITU has invited all the
central trade unions and
major industry-wide federations to participate in the CITU conference.
Thus the
conference would be a forum to strengthen the nationwide unity of the
entire
working class so that the workers� class struggle is enhanced to a
higher
level. This underlines the significance of the Chandigarh conference.
WORKER-PEASANT
ALLIANCE
The worker-peasant alliance is
an important aspect of the
struggle against capitalist exploitation.
To give concrete shape to this alliance, the CITU, AIKS and
AIAWU organised
a joint convention in March 2007, which emphasised the need for joint
struggles
by the three organisations on common issues faced by workers,
agricultural workers
and peasants in India. A call for
observation of a day was observed to popularise the need for
countrywide joint
struggle. However, the matter could not be pursued further though some
solidarity actions were planned in different parts of the country.
The conference will consider the
ways to strengthen the
worker-peasant alliance in joint struggles so that more powerful
resistance to
capitalist policies may be organised all over the country. The unity
achieved
in the joint federation of fishery workers by the CITU and AIKS is a
correct
step in that direction. The CITU conference will take initiative in
strengthening
this alliance so that a strategic alliance can be built at the national
level. This
will have an implication in the struggle for establishment of socialism.
DISCUSSION
IN COMMISSIONS
One day of the conference will
be devoted to the
organisation of six commissions when the delegates will attend a
commission of their
choice to participate in the discussion. According to the experience in
earlier
conferences, 500 to 600 delegates participate in the discussion in
these commissions.
The conclusions of these commissions are reported in the plenary
session for
adoption.
This time the six commissions
finalised by the CITU secretariat
are as follows:
1) Revolutionary ideology of the
working class and the
role of trade unions.
2) Unity of the working class
and our approach.
3) The news media and the
working class.
4) On safety, health and
environment.
5) Challenges in organising the
unorganised workers.
6) Organising the working women:
our objectives.
Each commission will have a
chairman to conduct and a
reporter to note down the deliberations.
The organisation of commissions
has become an
instrument of evolving common understanding in the CITU through the
participation
of the rank and file members. For each commission a draft note has been
prepared for submission and will be made available to the delegates in
their
own languages. The delegates narrate their experiences in the struggles
they have
conducted. Their experiences are thus pooled together to evolve a
policy of the
CITU for implementation.
PREPARATIONS
ON IN PUNJAB
One can witness a remarkable
enthusiasm among the CITU
cadres all over Punjab, and the fund collection drive is going on with
great
zeal. Several comrades who were inactive due to lack of proper
functioning,
have become active, and are mobilising workers in the campaign to
prepare for the
success of the 13th CITU conference. So far the fund collection drive
has
yielded over Rs 40 lakh and unions are confident about fulfilling the
target of
Rs one crore as decided by the reception committee.
The CITU�s Punjab state
committee president Vijay
Mishra, general secretary Raghunath Singh and vice president Charan
Singh Virdi
are touring all over the state to monitor the preparations campaign for
the
CITU conference. Former vice chancellor of Punjab University, Dr
Joginder Singh
Puar, is the chairman of the reception committee. Under him, the latter
is
actively working for the success of the conference.
One special feature of the
campaign is the growth of
CITU membership in the state. All the districts have been actively
participating in the campaign. Massive rallies of workers are being
held all
over the state to explain the issues before the CITU conference. Over
one lakh
leaflets in Punjabi language have already been distributed among the
workers to
explain the significance of the CITU conference.
The fraternal mass
organisations, viz the Kisan Sabha,
Agricultural Workers Union, AIDWA, SFI and DYFI, have been actively
campaigning
for the success of the CITU conference. The Kisan Sabha has already
collected
over 20 quintals of basmati rice as a solidarity contribution for the
conference.
A total of 500 male volunteers
and 100 female
volunteers have been enrolled by the reception committee to conduct the
deliberations of the conference.
Along with the CITU conference,
several seminars will
be organised in universities in which foreign delegates will also
participate
and explain the struggles they have been organising against
globalisation and
for trade union rights. Programmes of visits of foreign delegates to
some
industrial centres are also being planned in Punjab and the adjoining
states.
The preparations for the
conference have attracted the
attention of media in the state. The CITU campaign is getting adequate
publicity both in print and electronic media.
The reception committee has
decided to name the venue
of the conference as Jyoti Basu Nagar with a view to paying homage to
the
revered memory of the departed CITU vice president who remained in the
post for
the entire period of 40 years since the foundation of the CITU. To mark
the
memory of our departed general secretary, the hall of the conference
will be
named after Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar while another complex will be
named in
the memory of former CITU president Comrade E Balanandan.
The preparations for the mass
rally on March 21 are
going on in full swing and a largest ever gathering of the working
class is
being planned to culminate the CITU conference. A colourful procession
is being
planned with uniformed volunteers in the front. It is expected that a
large
number of women will participate in the procession. The Haryana state
committee
of CITU is also planning to mobilise workers to participate in the
procession
and the mass meeting.
The 13th conference of the CITU
at Chandigarh will be
a landmark in the history of the CITU. The glorious traditions of
anti-imperialist
struggle in Punjab are being highlighted in the CITU�s propaganda
campaign and
pledge is being taken in the meetings to carry forward the traditions
under the
banner of the CITU in strengthening of class struggle of the toiling
masses
against the capitalist system.
