People's Democracy

IN a joint statement issued from New Delhi on March 8, the AITUC, CITU, HMS, BMS and INTUC extended their all-out support to the workers of the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (BALCO) who are on an indefinite strike. These BALCO workers are fighting against the BJP-led union government’s move to sell this prestigious and financially sound public sector unit to a private company for a song.

Around 6,500 workers of the BALCO at Korba in Chhattisgarh state have been on a continuous strike since March 3, opposing the sell-out of this premier public sector aluminium plant with its huge assets and huge reserves in mines, etc, to M/s Sterlite Industries. Besides the workers, the people of Korba from all walks of life also joined the resistance en masse, against the central government’s scandalous deal with the Sterlite. Soon the struggle extended beyond the boundaries of BALCO Nagar at Korba to various other parts of the state where workers, youth, women and other sections organised a Rail Roko agitation, massive rallies and other forms of protest. Even the local chambers of commerce joined the dharna along with striking workers. The struggle against BALCO sell-out thus became a people’s movement.

The central government has so far tried various tricks to disrupt and break the movement against BALCO sell-out by all means. But the entire trade union movement condemned the central government’s stance to stick to the scam-tainted deal despite all-out opposition to it from trade unions and other social partners, irrespective of their political affiliations.

Extending full support to the ongoing struggle of BALCO workers against privatisation, the said trade unions called upon the working class in all industrial units and establishments all over the country to hold solidarity programmes in support of the fighting BALCO workers through demonstrations, dharnas, etc. They must also send protest telegrams to the prime minister against the BALCO sell-out. The trade unions urged the central government to respect the feelings of the people and cancel the BALCO deal immediately. (INN)