AFTER the massive display of unity through the successful bandh on April 25, almost all major trade union organisations in Mumbai have now given a call for a two-hour strike in the state. The call for the action was given by a one thousand strong representative convention of trade unions held on July 14 in the Municipal High School Hall at N M Joshi Marg, Central Mumbai. The convention, a unique one in the state of Maharashtra, was organised by the Trade Unions Joint Action Committee (JAC).

It will be recalled that the April 25 statewide bandh was in protest against the anti-working class amendments proposed by the Maharashtra state government jointly run by the Congress (I) and the Nationalist Congress Party. Strangely, however, despite an assurance by the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh after the state level bandh, to reconsider this step, the state government has not withdrawn the proposed anti-working class amendments in the Industrial Disputes Act and the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act 1970.

The JAC comprises mainly the Left-led central trade unions like the CITU, AITUC, HMS, HMKP, UTUC and TUCI. Some of the Mumbai based organisations like the Trade Unions Solidarity and regional organisations like the Kamgar Aghadi and Sarva Sramik Sangh are also included in its fold. It also includes organisations of the state and central government employees, school and college teachers, bank and insurance employees, etc. The convention was a unique one in the state as it was for the first time that such a gathering saw the active participation of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC). The previous association of the BKS was confined to some parleys between the leaders of the JAC and the BKS and to two press conferences.

One should not forget here that the first two of these organisations, namely the BKS and BMS, are politically affiliated to the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party respectively. On the other hand, the INTUC is affiliated to the Congress (I) party. The Shiv Sena has four ministers in the union cabinet while the BJP is heading the ruling National Democratic Alliance, with Atal Behari Vajpayee in the driver’s seat. The alliance is following with a vengeance the same set of economic and industrial policies which the Congress had begun introducing in 1991, when the party president P V Narasimha Rao was the prime minister and Dr Manmohan Singh was his finance minister. As such, participation of the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Indian National Trade Union Congress in a united movement with the Left-led organisations against the policies advocated by their political leaderships will have its own ramifications and repercussions in the state level and national political scenarios.

It should be noted that though these three organisations were very much reluctant in the beginning, they were forced to join the April 25 Maharashtra bandh, the call for which was originally given by the JAC, with the CITU as an important constituent. There is no doubt that the participation of these organisations in the April 25 Maharashtra bandh contributed to its massive success.

It was in the background of these developments that the July 14 convention against globalisation and proposed anti-worker changes in labour laws came to be organised, leading to the two-hour statewide strike call now. Having discussed the pros and cons of this strike action, the convention authorised the JAC to fix the date for the strike in consultation with the BKS, BMS and INTUC. Accordingly, the consultative meeting took place in Mumbai on July 25 where the date for the statewide two-hour protest strike was fixed. It will take on September 12 coming, from 11 a m to 1 p m.

Coming back to the July 14 convention, one could not but note the representative character of the gathering. Its participants included all-India leaders of different central trade union organisations and leaders from other states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi. The participants from Maharashtra were mostly district and state level leaders of different organisations and from different industries. The all-India leaders to address the convention were Dr M K Pandhe (CITU), K L Mehendra (AITUC), Hasmukhbhai Dave (BMS), Sharad Rao (HMKP) and Somasekharan (TUCI). Those from the other states who addressed the convention were Girish Pande (HMKP, Karnataka) and Jayantbhai (HMKP, Gujarat).

A presidium comprising K L Bajaj (CITU), Dada Samant (Kamgar Aghadi), Sukumar Damle (AITUC), Dataji Salvi (BKS), Raja Kulkarni (INTUC), S M Dharap (BMS), Shankar Salvi (HMKP) and Gajanand Shete (State Government Employees Confederation) conducted the proceedings. The main resolution, dealing with globalisation policies of the central and state governments and their anti-labour policies, was moved by Ramakant More (BKS).

Addressing the convention, CITU general secretary M K Pandhe gave a lucid picture of the different features of the anti-working class and anti-national policies of the central government. He also dealt with the various struggles conducted by the working class at national, state and industry levels against the Vajpayee regime’s disastrous policies of globalisation. He congratulated the working class of Maharashtra for their successful bandh on April 25. Pandhe also noted that irrespective of different political affiliations, trade union unity is growing in Maharashtra as reflected in the April 25 bandh and the July 14 convention against globalisation and the proposed anti-labour amendments of the state government.

Apart from the presidium members, many others also addressed the convention. They included Madhukar Sarpotdar (Maharashtra Sramik Senar), A D Golandaj (AITUC), Sharad Rao, Girish Pande, Michael Fernandes and Jayantibahi (HMKP), Mohan Sharma (MSEB, Nagpur), Dinkarrao Joshi (BMS, Vidarbha), Gajanan Shete (State Government Employees Confederation), R P Singh (Central Government Employees Confederation), Sayeed Ahmed and P R Krishnan (CITU, Mumbai), Dr K K Thekedath (BUCTU), Y G Joshi (NRMU), Jayant Chavan (Sarva Sramik Sanghtana), M A Patil and Ashok Manohar (Sarva Sramik Sangh Pune), Suresh Dhopeswarka (AIBEA), Sanjay Sahai (Defence Employee Union and others.