People's Democracy

Support To February 24 Strike

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which met in Hyderabad on January 29-31, 2004, issued the following statement on February 1, 2004.

THE Central Committee of the CPI(M) fully supports the struggle to defend the right to strike. The Supreme Court judgement concerning the Tamilnadu government employees strike last year had made extraneous and unwarranted remarks about strikes in general and specifically decreed that government employees have no right to strike.

The Central Committee welcomed the decision of the central trade unions and the federations of the state and central government employees to go on a one-day general strike on February 24 to assert that the right to strike is a basic democratic right. This is an issue which concerns not only the working class and employees, but all citizens of the republic. The right to collectively protest is a right earned by decades of struggle and the evolution of democracy in the country. 

The Central Committee of the CPI(M) calls upon all sections of the people to extend support and join this protest action.  The Central Committee calls upon all the party units to work wholeheartedly for the success of the strike.