FOUNDATION DAY OF THE CITU

Struggle To Continue In And Out Of The Parliament

B Prasant

THE 35th foundation day of the CITU was commemorated on May 30 all over Bengal with the Red Flag hoisted in the morning at every office of the organisation.  Flags were also hoisted at the gates of factories.  All-India president of the CITU, Dr M K Pandhe raised the CITU flag at the state office, Shramik Bhavan, where a large indoor rally was held later in the afternoon.

In their address to the convention, the CITU leadership said that the CITU would exert pressure on the UPA government through struggles and movements to ensure that there was no deviation from the issues contained in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). 

Dr M K Pandhe said that while it was true that under pressure from the Left, several issues concerning the interest of the workers could be included in the CMP.  However, struggle must continue both inside and outside of the parliament to see that the issues contained in the CMP were properly implemented.  The Left MP’s would create pressure within the parliament.  The toiling masses would exert pressure by conducting struggles and movements outside of it.  The CITU must lead the workers’ struggles.

GLORIOUS HERITAGE

Explaining and analysing the glorious heritage of workers’ movement that CITU carried out right from the 1970’s, Dr Pandhe said that it had been the unwillingness of other TUs to organise and to participate in struggles that led to the foundation of the CITU.  From then on, the CITU has carried forward the struggle under the slogan enunciated by the late B T Ranadive: ‘unity and struggle.’

From the movement launched by the CITU against bonus cuts during the evil days of the Emergency to the recent times when the CITU is in the forefront of the struggle against globalisation, liberalisation, and privatisation, the organisation has always led the workers’ struggles from the front.  The big strikes organised by the CITU all over the country have been great successes.

The workers’ movements must be made to gather more strength even at the present moment as in the future to make sure that the union government stays away from initiating anti-people measures and steps.  The CITU membership must be increased to stand at 40 lakh come December 19, the birth anniversary of B T Ranadive.  This will enable the CITU to further strengthen the workers’ struggle.

All India general secretary of the CITU, Chittabrata Majumdar said that in order to be effective in exertion of pressure, the CITU-led movement must also include in its sweep all sections of the toiling people.  The democratic movements of the people must be made to merge with the workers’ struggles.

In order to pressurise the new government to break from the path of the disastrous economic policy pursued by the previous BJP-led régime, said Majumdar, the Left TUs had submitted a charter of demands with the new labour minister at the centre.  This charter of demands must be made to reach the people at large. This is necessary for the reason that the charter contains demands of the common people and not only of the workers.  This will effectively seal the criticism made against the TUs that they only look to the interests of the workers, and workers only.  The struggles and movements of the CITU must also draw in its folds the kisans, the women, and the students-youth and all other sections of the common people, said Majumdar.

President of the Bengal unit of the CITU, Shyamal Chakraborti said that the new government could evolve principally because of the arduous struggle the CITU conducted all over the country over the past decade or so against anti-people economic policies.  However, the struggle has not ended.  The area of struggle has, indeed, become larger and wider.  From eleven working class constituencies of Bengal, MPs have been elected.  They must become vociferous on the demands of the working people within the parliament.

Addressing the meeting on behalf of the newly-elected CITU leaders who were elected to the Lok Sabha, Basudeb Acharya said that the Left would continue to oppose bitterly any attempt to introduce and put into motion anti-people economic policies. The Left would be in the forefront to protect the interest of the toiling masses.

Acharya said that a good example of the pressure already created by the Left on the new government was the assertion by the prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh that profit-making PSU’s would not be disinvested, that kisans without work would have 100 days’ work per year ensured, and the evil ‘hire-and-fire’ policy would go.

It is clear the Left could create an impact even at this initial stage.  The union labour minister has given the assurance that he would have the TU demands discussed with the bureaucrats before going ahead with policy decisions.  However, the Congress, after all, remained a bourgeoisie party and thus it devolved on the Left and the CITU to create pressure on the government to ensure that the progressive measures in the CMP are put to practice.  It was also necessary to make sure that the present UPA government remained in office so as to prevent a return of the evil BJP régime, Acharya concluded

Addressing the meeting, general secretary of the Bengal unit of the CITU, Kali Ghosh said that the CITU must always remember Ranadive’s dictum regarding the working movement getting to include other sections of the toiling masses in the struggle against capitalism; it must never remain restricted to economic demands alone.