People's Democracy

 AISGEF & CCGEW APPEAL

Expedite Preparations For Nationwide Strike

WELCOMING the national convention organised by central trade unions and industrial federations at Delhi on September 26 (see People’s Democracy, October 5), the All India Government Employees Federation (AISGEF) and Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers (CCGEW) have urged their ranks to prepare for a nationwide strike and mass campaign against the infamous Supreme Court ruling banning the strikes.

Through a statement issued from New Delhi on October 2, AISGEF general secretary Sukomal Sen and CCGEW secretary general S K Vyas, the two organisations said the national convention they had organised on September 25 had categorically decided for a nationwide strike in cooperation with central trade unions and national federations.

The two organisations pointed out that attacks of the government and managements on the working class and all sections of the employees and teachers are coming in a big way in the form of severe downsizing, retrenchments and closures. On top of that, the judiciary too is pronouncing anti-worker rulings one after another, the latest being the Kolkata High Court ruling banning rallies and processions in the city. In view of all these factors, the AISGEF and the CCGEW have urged the central trade unions to advance and fix the date of the nationwide strike in consultation with them and other national federations to be implemented in the first half of January 2004. This way, they pointed out, the government employees, industrial working class and all other sections of workers and employees can unitedly go on a strike to protect their right to strike and other democratic and trade union rights, and also make the preparatory campaign a challenging success. (INN)