People's Democracy

SECOND J&K STATE CONFERENCE

CITU Continues Fight Despite Heavy Odds

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) held its second Jammu & Kashmir state conference at Jammu last month, attended by 167 delegates from 5 districts of Jammu region and 4 observers from Anganwari in district Anantnag (Kashmir). The conference was inaugurated by CPI(M) state secretary M Y Tarigami, welcome address was read by Mrs Sushila Jamwal (president, Private Schools Teachers Association), and greeted by Dipankar Mukherjee and Hemlata from the CITU centre. The report on behalf of the working committee was placed by K K Bakshi, acting president. A total of 27 delegates debated the report which was adopted with two amendments.

The conference elected 25 office bearers, of which 8 posts are to be filled up later on. The team will be led by M Y Tarigami as president, J A Zargar as working president and K K Bakshi as general secretary. The conference adopted resolutions on communal harmony, implementation of labour laws in J&K, stop to police intervention in labour disputes, industrial policy, judicial enquiry into police firing on workers at Banihal, lifting of the lock-out by Singer sewing machines at Bari-Brahamana, inclusions of private school teachers under ID and minimum wages act, and regularisation of Anganwari workers.

SITUATION IN THE STATE

The conference opined that with the replacement of BJP led government at the centre in May 2004, the working people hoped to get relief from the anti-worker and anti-people policies. But even though the present dispensation depends on the Left support for remaining in power, we must not forget that there is little difference between the NDA and UPA governments on economic policies. The UPA government continues to follow the World Bank-WTO dictates. Attempts are being made to trample the common minimum programme, the basis on which the Left parties are supporting the UPA regime from outside, though the Left has succeeded in wresting some relief for the people.

However left has brought some relief in getting enhancement of ­­interest rate of PF which was slashed down by the NDA government the recent enactment of rural employment guarantee scheme is yet another relief to provide job to the unemployed rural mass. But this is not enough we have to organise mass struggle by uniting of the most oppressed, down trodden landless peasantry it remains a fact that 84 per cent of the work force is yet unorganised. We have to wage struggle to get the minimum wages act and industrial dispute act fully implemented.

This needs the building of a strong democratic movement and raising the level of consciousness of the common mass. The CITU has to work hard for broader unity of the working class for a joint struggle, but should also continue to work for the growth of its own base in the state.

In the state, the 2002 assembly elections gave a fractured mandate. The ruling National Conference could not muster the requisite strength to stake claim for government formation. Hence the Congress (I), PDP, Panthers Party and some independent legislators formed a coalition government in the state. This coalition is supported by two CPI(M) legislators from outside. At the time of taking over, chief minister Mufti Mohd Saeed had made tall claims about giving a clean and pro-people administration. However, the policy pursued by his government had adverse bearings upon the trade union movement.

POLICE REPRESSION

On March 6, 2003, 1470 workers engaged in the construction of state owned Baghlihar power project were abruptly retrenched by the contractor Jai Prakash Associates. The workers went on strike to protest this illegal action. The union general secretary Javed Ahmed Zargar was arrested when he was on a visit to Jammu and kept under illegal confinement till March 30, 2003, when came out due to a habeas corpus petition in Jammu High Court.

In this period, workers were subjected to police firing thrice and cane charge repeatedly, injuring scores of workers. It was learnt that police repression was unleashed at the behest of none else than the chief minister.

To fight the police repression, CITU formed a united forum of trade unions with 32 organisations who started a sustained campaign in support of striking workers. They staged mass dharnas in front of divisional commissioner’s office and governor’s house. Their rallies and processions too were subjected to police atrocities. Finally, the united forum approached the political parties for support and staged a dharna at Indira Chowk in Jammu, on April 2, 2005, with 9 MLAs participating.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, the chief minister deputed the Jammu divisional commissioner to start tripartite negotiations and sort out the issue. After seven days of prolonged dialogue, an agreement was signed and the 36-day strike came to an end. However, trampling all the morality underfoot, the agreement to withdraw the police cases was not implemented and the police are still harassing the workers.

The management of Kalakote coalmine has made it a routine practice to reach agreements with the union to avoid agitation but subsequently violates the agreed terms, forcing the workers to revive agitation. To follow the policy of privatisation the management wanted to close down the mines and sell it to some private entrepreneur. The CITU launched a campaign against this policy and to keep the mines under the state public sector. These mines possess huge quantity of quality coal reserves which the government is not interested in extracting. The workers are made to live in worst conditions. Despite the fact that the management deducts Rs 150 per month from their salary as house rent, the houses provided are in a dilapidated condition, lacking amenities like drinking water and sanitation etc. On the other hand, the INTUC is trying to get CITU activists implicated in false police cases with the help of administration. But the CITU continues to struggle to protect the workers’ rights.

The construction work of the Sewa hydro power project was contracted out to Sative, Patel and Gamon. Right from day one, these companies started violating labour laws regarding working day, weekly rest, EPF, drinking water and health facility etc. The workers formed a CITU union to launch a struggle and achieved some of the demands. Here too, workers as well as female folk living in the vicinity of the project were subjected to police repression; scores of workers and women were injured. A large number of false criminal cases were registered against the workers and peasants. The CITU’s O P Suniyal and Munish Kumar were arrested and implicated in fabricated cases. Two CPI(M) MPs were sent by the CITU centre. A tripartite meeting on June 18, 2004, wherein Tarigami and minister of state for finance also participated, settled the dispute and finally an agreement was reached on July 3, 2004. It was also agreed that police cases against the workers would be withdrawn. But it is a matter of concern that the administration has reopened the cases and is haunting the workers.

OTHER AGITATIONS

At Diani near Samba, five industrial units owned by a single family of habitual litigants is acting above law. Workers are made to work under worst conditions but the labour department is a silent spectator. Against the little relief the workers got from labour courts, the employers have filed petitions in different civil courts.

Part of construction work for Udhampur Baramulla rail project at Banihal was contracted out by Ircon International to Hindustan Construction Co. The work started in September 2003. The peasants were not paid compensation for the acquired land and workers were denied basic amenities like drinking water, first aid and safety equipments. The workers and peasants formed a united forum and launched an agitation in February 2004. An agreement was signed on March 10, 2004. But taking advantage of the Lok Sabha elections announced in the meantime the HCC management did not implement the agreement. This led to another round of agitation from August 2, 2004. On September 5, M Y Tarigami reached the site and another agreement was signed. But when workers went to resume work, the HCC management arbitrarily terminated the services of 30 workers. The workers revived the agitation. But a large contingent of police arrived at the site and ordered the workers to disperse. The workers resented and the police started indiscriminate firing at the workers. Of the 16 injured workers, one succumbed to the injuries next day at Srinagar hospital. The people of Banihal observed complete bandh on September 11, 2004. They too were subjected to cane charge and tear gas. Salim Raja, an advocate and social worker supporting the peasants and workers, was invited for negotiations on the same day. But he was arrested, whisked away to the police station and brutally tortured in police custody. Public safety act was invoked upon him during the detention. On a habeas corpus, the Jammu High Court ordered his release, referred him to a medical board and ordered a judicial probe into the matter. The enquiry report has been submitted and is pending for final disposal. The police had unleashed a reign of terror. Houses in surrounding villages were raided, their inhabitants were brutally beaten up, even women were not spared. The CITU since then has been fighting for justice. All the workers who participated in the strike have been terminated arbitrarily by the HCC management. Compensation is yet not paid to the families of Mohd Hanif and Uma Shanker who lost their lives.

During the period, CITU submitted memorandums to the union home minister and to the prime minister for their intervention against police excesses, but to no avail. Petitions by intellectuals, political parties and trade unions to the chief minister had had no impact. Despite the letters to the CM for intervention by former CPI(M) general secretary HKS Surjeet, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya, CITU general secretary Chittabrata Majumdar and all CITU state units in the country, and the delegations with Basudev Acharya (chairman, standing committee on railways), M K Pandhe (CITU president) and others to the CM, the HCC management has been adamant. This shows it’s the CM’s connivance with the management. Moreover, the state government rewarded the HCC management by allotting more projects to it, instead of blacklisting it.

A multinational tycoon, Singer opened its unit at Bari Brahmana near Jammu more than 2 decades back. The state government throughout has been extra benevolent to it. It enjoys subsidies for a stipulated period, then closes down the units, diverts the profits to other units, declares the functional units sick and retrenches the workmen. Recently, it closed down its TV unit and retrenched the workers. The CITU fought against this illegal action and forced the labour department to call for the balance sheet of Bari Brahmana unit. Failing to comply with the requirements, the management locked out the unit though the state government declared its action as illegal and ordered for prosecution of the management. The management has filed a writ in the High Court while the workers are continuing their struggle.

A centrally sponsored river valley project was started in December 2003 and 365 workers were engaged for plantation and wiring around it to stop soil erosion caused by the Ranjeet Sagar Dam in Kathua district. The workers continued to perform their job but have not been paid the wages for the last 29 months. They then formed a CITU union to wage a struggle for job regularisation and payment of pending wages. But the administration continues to play hide and seek.

OTHER SECTIONS

Teachers employed by private educational institutions are an exploited lot. They are not covered under the ID act, not paid the prescribed minimum wages, and are deprived of any privilege or decent service conditions. The teaching community then launched an agitation but till date the government has not bothered to listen to their genuine grievances. The CITU has been pleading their cause at different levels. Finally, in the wage board meeting on March 30 this year, the government agreed to bring the private school teachers under the purview of minimum wages act. But the recommendation is pending with the law department for making an amendment to the minimum wages and the industrial dispute acts. The CITU is not satisfied with the agreed wage pattern since it does not meet the teachers’ aspirations. However, it is a good beginning in the given situation.

Hundred of educated women are working in far flung areas in the state to train and educate the rural mass about health care, cottage industries, sanitation and other problems. But they are paid the least, and are bereft of proper service conditions and job security. The CITU has been trying to organise them and make them aware of their rights. They have been organised in Anantnag district and, with the help of the CPI(M) and its state secretary M Y Tarigami, MLA, some gains in the shape of wage enhancement and maternity benefits could be achieved for this group. It is a matter of concern that these workers are yet not sufficiently organised to become a force to reckon with. But the CITU is trying its best to organise this exploited section and succeeded in spreading its base in Jammu region also.

LABOUR LAW VIOLATIONS

As per its industrial policy, the coalition government is extending incentives to industrial houses to open their units in Jammu & Kashmir. Recently, it declared Samba as an industrial hub, and a vast land has been acquired and allotted to various business houses. Some industrial units have been opened in the SIDCO industrial centre at Samba. The stated purpose is job creation.

But, defying the government’s directions, some employers are inducting managers and workforce from outside the state. Local workers, wherever employed, have to face exploitation in regard to minimum wages and duty hours etc. To quote a few examples, the Berger Paints India Limited terminated the services of 8 local workers who dared to demand minimum wages as per law. Unfortunately, when the state labour minister’s intervention was sought, he approved this termination. Similarly, the management of Bharat Box Factory is exploiting child labour and not complying with the working hours laid down in labour laws. When workers formed a union and demanded implementation of labour laws, their president was terminated on false charges. The CITU continues to organise these workers and fight against the violation of labour laws by managements.

Labour laws are being grossly violated in the state by industrial houses. Labour inspectors have utterly failed to justify their job. Many officials are reportedly on the pay roll of industrial houses. Instructions issued by the state government are hardly implemented. Employers continued to defy categorisation of workers into the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled. The prescribed overtime rate is usually not paid. No casual leave or sick leave is granted by a large number of industries.

Police intervention in labour disputes is highly deplorable. Whenever an industrial dispute takes place, the police use force to suppress the workers and implicate the innocent workers in false criminal cases at the behest of employers. Taking care of industrial disputes is the job of the labour department and the police must refrain from intervention.

The industrial policy pursued by the state government is playing havoc with the state exchequer. The big business houses from within and outside the state establish their units, avail concessions in the name of subsidies, evade taxes, siphon off huge money and then vanish. Corrupt bureaucrats and politicians are hand in glove with business houses. Nobody is made accountable for labour law violations but workers are made to suffer due to closures and lockouts.