ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR

AS part of the all-India general strike, the CITU and the non-gazetted government officers’ association, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, jointly organised dharnas and public meetings at various places in the islands on May 21 to protest against the anti-worker and anti-people policies of the NDA-led central government.

At Port Blair, a dharna was staged at Mohanpura, from 8 a m to 5 p m. A large number of workers and government employees participated in the dharna. In the evening, a public meeting was held at the venue of the dharna, which was presided over by H N Parial. He criticised the central government for pursuing the anti-people policies.  B Chandrachoodan, working president of the CITU’s A&N state committee, Pranob Banerjee (president, NGOs Association) and D Ayyappan (general secretary, NGOs association) also spoke on the occasion, highlighting the issues on which the strike was organised.

Banking sector was completely paralyzed with the entire staff and officers, at the call of their respective associations and federations, joining the strike in all the nationalized banks functioning in the islands.

Lunch-hour demonstrations were held by the staff of certain central government offices like Botanical Survey of India, Anthropological Survey of India, etc. at Port Blair.

At Diglipur in the North Andaman workers and government employees participated in a massive dharna held at the Diglipur Bazaar.  A public meeting was also held in the evening.

At Billiground in the Middle Andaman, a dharna was held in the Billiground Bazar in which government employees of the area participated. Public meeting was also held after the close of dharna.

Andhra Pradesh

The countrywide general strike on May 21 was a resounding success in the state of Andhra Pradesh with nearly 80 per cent of the employees and workers in various sectors enthusiastically participating in it.The strike turned into a bandh in much of the state. It was peaceful and total in all industrial areas in the state, while it was partial in Visakhapatnam, with varying degrees of participation by the employees and workers of various industrial units.

In Hyderabad, all the employees and workers of all central public sector units, except HAL, have gone on strike. Similarly, the strike in BSNL, Postal department, banks, insurance corporations and offices of the central government was total. While employees of the state-level public sector corporations have participated fully in the strike, employees of the state government were not a party to the strike, as their associations did not serve any strike notice to the government. However, the government employees fully cooperated by coming out of their offices when approached by the cadres of mass organisations and nine Left parties, including the CPI(M) and the CPI, who enforced a bandh in the state on the 19 demands formulated by a round table conference.

Nearly sixty per cent of the staff and workers of APSRTC  have gone on strike, with one of the major unions not participating in the strike. As a result, RTC buses were off the road in most parts of the state, except in Hyderabad.

The strike was partial in Vizag Steel Plant and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. Some of the followers of INTUC also participated in the strike, despite opposition to the strike coming from its national president G Sanjeeva Reddy. Most units in the unorganised sector also closed down, making the bandh a success.

Thanking the working class and the people of the state for making the strike and bandh a grand success and expressing their opposition to the policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation being pursued by the central and state governments, S Veeraiah, general secretary of the state committee of CITU, has said the workers and the people of the state have given a fitting reply to the leaders of INTUC and BMS who tried to foil the strike and the bandh.

 (M Venugopal Rao)

WEST BENGAL

LIFE in Bengal virtually came to a standstill on May 21 as the democratic-minded people of the state rose magnificently to provide full and active support to the industrial strike called by the Left TU’s along with the NPMO. The weak-kneed and token opposition of the INTUC and BMS – both of which conceded the import of the issues concerned-was swept aside unceremoniously as the toiling masses responded widely to the strike.

Clearly, the industrial strike-action in Bengal assumed the form and content of a general strike.  From the hills to the coastal areas, from the laterite regions to reverine stretches, the wheel of production came to a standstill. Plantations in the dooars, and terai, as well as the hills were devoid of activities. The ships remained anchored and the ports and docks basked idly in the bright sunlight.

A deserted street in Kolkata

Factories and production centres dozed off with the only activity seen being the slogan shouting of the workers outside of the factory gates. The state and the public sector units, including banks and mercantile offices, closed down for the period of the strike. The vast green fields of the state remained free from the usual hum of pre-monsoon activities.  Road remained free from traffic. The collieries were idle. No aircraft flew in and out of the Kolkata airport despite the awkward determination to the contrary of the management. The industrial strike was total and complete in Bengal.

Speaking to INN/PD in the late afternoon  at the CITU offices located in downtown Kolkata, CITU leader, Chittabrata Majumdar, felicitated the toiling people of Bengal for making the industrial strike a great and memorable success. He said that the month-long and intense campaign organised at the grass roots’ level state-wide by the Left TU’s and by affiliates of the NPMO paid off handsome dividends.

Majumdar said that the strike was but the starting point of bigger movements, nation-wide, and perhaps of longer duration, that would be built up till the union government was forced to withdraw its anti-policies.

(B Prasant)

TRIPURA

IF the May 21 general strike turned out to be a resounding success in Tripura, it was because of the intense preprations that preceded it, arousing the people all over the state on the demands the strike sought to press for. One of the major milestones in this chain of preparations was a series of marches and meetings held on May 20 throughout the state. As the central programme on the day, a mammoth march cum meeting was organised by the state unit of the National Platform of Mass Organisations in the nerve centre of the capital town Agartala, with CITU state president Baidyanath Majumder as the chief speaker. Meanwhile, the state Left Front Committee too extended total support to the May 21 general strike and called upon the state’s population to make it a resounding success. The All Tripura Government Doctors’ Association too extended moral support to the strike but said it would maintain normal health care activities on the day in the interest of the patients.

On May 20 afternoon, braving the scorching heat at the height of summer, workers of all trades, students, youth and women started gathering in the Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan compound of Agartala. Instead of stepping homewards after the working hour like other weekdays, teachers and employees gathered at the downtown Shakuntala Road. At 4.30 p m a huge roaring march emerged from Rabindra Bhavan and, flowing with flags and festoons and reverberating with slogans, it paraded the entire downtown and poured into Shakuntala Road. Meanwhile, marches after marches of teachers and employees reached the site, making the entire area including Shakuntala Road a melting pot of militant masses and proving the inadequacy of the site for the day’s programme.

In his address on the occasion, Baidyanath Majumder urged for making use of the May 21 general strike as a launching pad for the second struggle for freedom in the country. This he said is necessary in order to resolve its fundamental problems by securing economic freedom through establishment of a pro-people government at the centre. Pointing to the singular lack of support to the strike from the Congress-led INTUC and the BJP-led BMS, he said there is no difference between the Congress and the BJP on economic policies. He also said the phenomenon of the Congress party aiding and abetting the outlawed extremists to stonewall the Left Front government’s pro-people development activities in Tripura is nothing but a testament to that party’s, and also of the BJP’s, essentially anti-people attitude. 

(INN)

GUJARAT

THE response to the May 21 general strike turned out to be quite splendid in the state. The ground for it was prepared by the April 26 state level convention at Ahmedabad (reported in these columns) and the subsequent campaigns in various districts. The strike received a boost after the bank employees’ unions, at the last moment, decided to join the strike.

Others to join the strike included the income tax employees, audit and account employees, RBI employees, and even the goldsmiths and diamond workers. Even the anti-strike Gujarat Samachar gave wide publicity to the strike call and then to the actual strike. So did the Muslim-owned Gujarat Today.

All the backdoor manoeuvres of the INTUC and BMS failed, forcing these organisations into silence.

At Ahmedabad, rasta roko actions were organised at Nehru Bridge and Mahatama Gandhi statue while the Dena Bank premises and the income tax office saw huge demonstrations by bank and income tax employees.

At Bhavnagar, an effigy symbolising the Second National Commission on Labour was burnt to ashes. A mass meeting was held in front of the headquarters of State Bank of Saurashtra.

Rajkot witnessed an impressive procession and demonstration against the central and state governments’ policies.

Reports of actions in various forms have been received from Baroda, Himmatnagar, Junagarh, Nadiad and Vidjanagar in Kheda district and other places.

Rasta roko actions were organised at several bus stations statewide. Many of the industries downed their shutters in view of the mood gripping their workers.

Students, youth, peasants and agricultural workers, teachers and railwaymen joined the actions all over Gujarat. Organisations like the AITUC, CITU, HMKP, GMP, DYFI, SFI, AIDWA, CPI(M), Socialist Janata Party and many others worked round the clock to make the strike action a success.

MAHARASHTRA

THE call for a general strike on the 8-point demands received a big response in all parts of Maharashtra. An overwhelming majority of factories in Mumbai and suburbs remained closed. State and central government employees fully participated in the strike. Mumbai harbour and JNPT port in Maharashtra were out of gear. In the ordnance factory at Ambarnath in North East Mumbai, nearly 40 per cent of the workers and staff downed their tools and pens. This happened despite the combined opposition of BMS and INTUC unions to the strike. Banks, insurance and LIC employees and postal staff fully participated. Petroleum, fertiliser, ONGC employees and other public sector staff stayed away. Food Corporation of India employees and Mathadi workers did not turn up for work. Sugarcane cutters and sugar factory workers, organised under the CITU, HMS and even BMS and INTUC, struck work. The loading and unloading workers in all major markets kept away from work. Processions were taken out and huge demonstrations staged at all district headquarters and other cities and town.

In many of these demonstrations, a large number of farmers, agricultural workers, Anganwadi staff and sugarcane cutters participated. Many of these programmes were before collectorate offices. Presence of postal employees was of a special attraction in many processions. Protesting demonstrators blocked the roads and rails at North-West Andheri and North West Bhandup areas in Mumbai. Sixty of them were arrested. Striking workers also blocked roads at Chembur, Kandivali and near Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Leaders of the Trade Unions Joint Action Committee led the demonstration at Andheri, Bhandup and Chembur. In South Mumbai, bank employees under the banner of AIBOC, AIBEA, BEFI and NCBE came out in processions in the Fort area, a commercial complex. All these processions culminated in a large meeting near the Bank of India at Flora Fountain (Hutatma Chowk). The central government employees held a militant demonstration near the Churchgate railway station in South Mumbai.

Unfortunately, in Mumbai, leaders of the HMKP deliberately kept away their members out of strike from the city’s transport network undertakings like the BEST, taxi and autorickshaw services. This is despite the fact that the HMKP is a constituent of the Joint Trade Unions Action Committees and mobilised its members in many places in Maharashtra. The Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), the trade union wing of Shiv Sena, did not participate in the strike. Likewise, the BMS and the official wing of the INTUC too kept away.

A few details about the strike position in other districts of Maharashtra are being given below.

Nasik, a pilgrim city, and its industrial suburbs presented a bandh-like appearance. More than 15,000 people took part in processions, demonstrations and road blockades in different parts of this district. They included a large number of farmers, Adivasi labourers, agricultural workers, factory workers, state and central government staff, bank, LIC and general insurance employees. There was a largely attended meeting near the Collectorate in Nasik city.

In Pune, considered to be the cultural capital of Maharashtra, a majority of industrial workers stayed away from factories. More than 10 processions were jointly organised by sponsoring unions. They went around the city raising slogans against the Vajpayee government. All the processions from different parts culminated in a 5000 strong rally near the Collectorate. State and central government staff, electricity workers, white-collar employees and postal staff formed a large part of this meeting.

In Solapur district, more than 10,000 people took part in the strike. Protest demonstrations were staged in different parts of Solapur. A large number of the participants were beedi workers, state and central government staff, anganwadi workers, factory workers and middle class employees. They held 5 meetings in the city of Solapur and suburbs. A big part of these meetings comprised women workers. 

In the South Maharashtra centres like Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur and Sangli, the strike in all industries was almost complete. It was particularly so in the powerloom sector. Several processions were taken out in all the major industrial centres. Postal, municipal and state government employees took part in a big way in all the protest meetings held in these towns.

Thane is a district adjoining to Mumbai and Thane-Belapur is a growing industrial belt in Maharashtra. Ambarnath in this district has one of the biggest ammunition manufacturing factories. Here 40 per cent of the workers and employees of this prestigious defence establishment responded to the strike call, despite the combined opposition of the BMS and INTUC. More than 26 meetings and road blockades took place in Thalassaary, famous for the Warli Adivasi revolt in the 1940s, and other parts of the district. In most of these places, a large number of farmers, agricultural workers and Adivasis took part. More than 25,000 people participated in these programmes; women formed a substantial part of them. In Thane city, a procession of industrial workers and middle class employees went round the town and held a meeting in front of the Collectorate.

In Raigadh district, industrial workers and JNPT employees of Nava Sheva Dock, came out in processions in this district. They held several meetings and staged demonstrations. They were joined by Hindustan Petroleum and ONGC employees.

In Chandrapur, Wardha and Amravati districts of Vidharbha in north Maharashtra, the strike was of great significance. Electricity workers, coal mine workers, school and college teachers took part in many processions here. Anganwadi staff, state and central government employees, postal employees, irrigation project workers and other sections of working class and middle class employees enthusiastically participated.

In NAGPUR, considered to be the second capital of Maharashtra, more than 5000 people participated in the strike action. The city witnessed many processions organised by industrial workers, state and central employees, bank, insurance, GIC, electricity and coalmine workers. They held a public meeting at Kasturchand Park in the heart of the city. Earlier, the trade unions in Nagpur had formed a “Save Public Sector and Save India Committee,” and this committee had held a convention at Vidharbha Sahithya Sangh Hall on May 18 which was addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, helping in mobilisation in a big way.

The strike was successful in Aurangabad, Jalna and Beed districts. More than 3000 workers took out a militant processions in Aurangabad, went around the city and held a public meeting at Gandhi Chowk in the city centre. Those joining the meeting and the processions included industrial workers, teachers, state and central government staff and other middle class employees. Similar processions and meetings took place in the adjoining Jalna and Beed districts also.

Medical sales representatives from all pharmaceutical industries from all districts in Maharashtra have actively participated in this strike action. Similarly, the All Indian Kisan Sabha, AIDWA, DYFI, AIAWU and SFI not only supported but actively participated in this action. The Left parties ---CPI(M), CPI, PWP, Lal Nishan party in Maharashtra --- had also endorsed the call for strike. An overall assessment is that more than 35 lakh blue-collar workers and white-collar employees participated in protest actions. 

(P R Krishnan)