People's Democracy

CITU General Council Calls for

March to Parliament on Feb 23, 2011

Hemalata

THE general council of CITU, which concluded in Nasik on January 11, 2011, gave a clarion call to the working class of the country to intensify the united fight against the anti worker and anti people policies of the UPA II government. It has also decided to launch an intensive independent campaign against the rightward shift in the policies pursued by the ruling classes and on the need to strengthen the Left to safeguard the rights of the working people.

The CITU general council met in Prabhakar Sanzgiri nagar (Nasik) on January 8-11. The venue of the meeting was named after the legendary leader of the working class and women’s movement, Ahilya Rangnekar. 269 members from all over the country attended the meeting, which started with the hoisting of the red flag of the CITU by its president AK Padmanabhan.

INAUGURAL

SESSION

A well attended inaugural session was held outside the district committee office of the CITU. In his presidential address, AK Padmanabhan observed that the first decade of this century was witnessing a severe crisis of the capitalist system. The crisis, the worst since the Second World War, was systemically rooted in the capitalist system itself. Despite the talk of recovery, the crisis continues to impact the economies of many countries including the advanced capitalist countries. The Millennium Development Goals remain on paper while large sections of humanity are mired in unemployment, poverty, hunger, malnutrition and disease. Unemployment, poverty and hunger have increased in the US, the richest and most powerful country in the world. The gap between the rich and poor has been widening.

Many developed countries, which have extended huge bail out packages to the corporates and incurred fiscal deficits, are now curtailing the hard won rights of the workers in the name of austerity measures. Wage cuts, reduction in pension benefits, reductions in public employment are being imposed on the working class in several countries including Germany, France, Italy, UK, Greece, Spain, Portugal etc.

The presidential address noted that the working class has been resisting these measures with massive struggles including strikes. Waves of strikes and massive demonstrations took place in Greece, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, England, Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria etc with the slogan ‘We will not pay for their crimes’. More than 50,000 students joined the demonstrations in London. In US, more than 2,00,000 people marched through Washington streets on October 2 demanding jobs, peace and justice.

While the working people are continuing their struggles and militant movements, the political spectrum is moving towards right in many of these countries, as the expectations of some changes under social democratic governments have been belied.  The resurgence of rightist forces, including the neo Nazis in many of these countries has ominous portents for the working class and democratic movements in the world. Unless the working class is able to ideologically reorient its movement and organisation, the present day challenges cannot be faced effectively.

Under these circumstances, the US imperialism has intensified its attempts to brow-beat the developing countries including India, forcing them to further open up their markets for US corporates. The much trumpeted visit of US president Obama, to India was only to ensure the expansion of their trade and also increase in the employment opportunities at home.

In this situation, the strengthening of the Bolivarian alternative movements in Latin American countries during this period was encouraging. Bolivia, Venezuela and other countries are nationalising various core industries to safeguard the interests of the people. At the same time, US imperialism continues its attempts to destabilise various progressive governments as was evident in Ecuador, Honduras etc. The real face of US imperialism and its most undemocratic and inhuman activities, the role of US embassies as centres of global espionage have been confirmed by the secret documents released by Wikileaks. These leaks have also exposed how the government of India succumbed to the pressure of US imperialists and allowed the US officials and its FBI to violate all norms in their ‘operations’.

The president of CITU asserted that it was in this background that the national developments have to be examined. The serious resentment of the working class against the policies of the government was evident in the unprecedented success of the all India general strike on  September 7. This unity has to be carried forward to further intensify struggles to reverse the policies. The working class has also to address the social issues like untouchability, discrimination against women etc that prevailed even today.

GEN SECRETARY’S

REPORT

The report of the general secretary, introduced in the general council meeting, by Tapan Sen elaborately dealt with the present political and economic situation in the country, outlined the experiences of various struggles in different parts of the country and proposed the future tasks to strengthen the joint movement as well as independent campaigns of the CITU. The implementation of the Bhubaneswar Document on organisation, adopted around 17 years back was also reviewed in a separate session of the general council.

The general secretary drew the attention of the members to the increasing capitulation of the ruling classes under US pressure at all – economic, political and foreign policy levels. The UPA II was aggressively pushing through the neo liberal policies of total deregulation and privatisation to the detriment of our self reliance and sovereignty. It was intent in further deregulating the financial sector, allowing FDI in retail trade and higher education and opening up our agriculture to foreign companies. The servile attitude of the Indian government was evident when it failed to raise the issue of justice to the Bhopal gas victims during the visit of president Obama. The tightening grip of US imperialism over the Indian ruling classes was a matter of concern for the working class of the country.

Taking a serious view of the institutionalisation of corruption under the neoliberal regime, the report noted that almost all the non Left parties were involved in the scams that have been surfacing on a regular basis in the last few months. Central ministers, chief ministers and ministers in various states, members of parliament and state legislatures, members of judiciary, bureaucrats at various levels, police officials and even high officers of the defence forces are involved in these scandals. Every pillar of the democratic system has been corroded.    It is for the working people of this country to expose the misdeeds and also to properly link up these corrupt practices to its roots – the neo-liberal policies that are being implemented.

The main opposition party, the BJP has its share in the scams with the involvement of its leaders including its chief minister in Karnataka, allegedly being involved in several scams. Besides, it is a strong advocate of India becoming a junior strategic partner of the US and has been pursuing the same economic policies in the states where it is in power. Its communal divisive policies will be detrimental to the unity of the working class. It has no alternative pro people policies to offer.

It was only the Left parties that have been strongly opposing such abject surrender to US imperialism and raising their voice in defence of the self reliance and sovereignty of the country and the rights of the working people. The Left movement in the country has been the real source of support and even mainstay for the working people. The Left led governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have been taking various pro people measures despite the serious financial constraints. The PDS is administered in a better manner in these states, despite the non cooperation of the government of India in making food grains available. They have been providing social security benefits to vast sections of unorganised workers including the agricultural workers, relief to the workers of closed industries, etc. In Kerala, 32 out of the 37 state owned enterprises have recorded profits as against only 12 in 2005 -06. Ten more units are going to be started by the LDF government in the state. These are precisely the reasons for the attacks on the Left with overt and covert support from imperialism, which has to be exposed through a wide campaign by the CITU all over the country. It is the responsibility of the working class movement to protect the Left, the general secretary’s report asserted.

Despite the claims of being the second fastest growing economy, India has the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of hungry people. The Global Hunger Index 2010 ranks India at 67^th position well behind our neighbours Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. India alone is home to 42 per cent of the world’s underweight children, exposing the precarious food insecurity of the mass of the people. The widening inequalities become glaring from the fact that while 100 individuals in a country of 120 crore population own wealth equal to one fourth of the GDP of the country while 84 crore Indians are forced to survive on less than Rs 20 per day.

The Employment Unemployment Survey conducted by the Labour Bureau portrays an alarming picture of the unemployment, which is 7.3 per cent in rural areas, 10.1 per cent in urban areas; it is 14.6 per cent among women. Despite tall claims, only 2.4 jobs were generated in 3 years between 2005 and 2008, ie an average of 8 lakhs jobs per year.

PRICE

RISE

The general secretary’s report expressed serious concern at the indifferent attitude of the government in controlling the relentless price rise of all the essential commodities, particularly of food articles. It has strongly asserted that this was not something related to demand and supply but was something deliberately promoted by the neo liberal policy regime, by dismantling the public distribution system and promoting speculative trade in commodity markets. The decision to deregulate petrol prices and the subsequent rise in petrol prices six times in six months, the hefty hike in diesel and petrol prices have also contributed to the price rise.

Another feature of neoliberalism was the loot of the poor even in the name of helping the poor, an example of which was the patronage extended to the microfinance companies. These microfinance companies charged exorbitant rates of interests of 50 – 150 per cent on loans given to the SHGs and use strong arm tactics to recover the loans. Unable to repay the loans and face the humiliation, scores of women members of SHGs, particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have committed suicides in the last few months. Microfinance has been promoted as an instrument to eliminate poverty by sections of NGOs and the government. However, the real intention was to weaken and dismantle the linkages between the institutional credit system and the poor, making bank credit a preserve for the affluent. Because of the policy hurdles created by the banks in extending loans to the SHGs and poor, even the Left led state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura are finding it difficult to ensure the 4 per cent interest rate with state government subsidies.

The disinvestment process which was halted due to the opposition of the Left parties on whose support the UPA I government depended for its survival, has been fast tracked under the UPA II rule. While it wants to exceed the target of earning Rs 40,000 crores through disinvestment in 2010 – 11, it has set a target of Rs 59,000 crores through the follow on offers in IOC, ONGC and SAIL for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The shares are being sold at throw away prices, frittering away national assets for the benefit of the private corporate sector. Besides, by deregulation and denying access to new areas and projects through behind the scene political manipulations, the government was drastically reducing the predominant role of the public sector in strategic and infrastructure sectors. In the field of natural gas production, Reliance Industries Limited has superseded ONGC; in the field of crude oil production, once Rajasthan Oil field company under M/s Cairn starts production, the private sector would be predominant; in power sector, five projects have already gone to the private sector since NTPC was not allowed to seriously compete; deregulation of petroleum products is going to make IOC, BPCL and HPCL totally vulnerable vis a vis Reliance and Essar. The report commended the coal workers for raising their voice against disinvestment in such a scenario.

The report emphasised that under the neoliberal regime, the workers’ share in value addition was continuously being suppressed. As per the Annual Survey of Industries, the share of wages to gross value added declined from 20.5 per cent in 1991 – 92 to 9.2 per cent in 2007 – 08, while the share of profits increased from 14.5 per cent to 53.8 per cent during the same period. A survey of Indian Private Corporate Houses made by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy noted that gross profit as percentage of total wage cost rose from 44 per cent in 2001 to 176 per cent in 2008. This means continuing decline in the average wage level and replacement of regular workers by contract/ casual/ temporary workers besides frequent wage cuts, lay off, shut down etc, often unlawful. The situation is more precarious in the unorganised sector.

VIOLATION OF

LABOUR LAWS

 The government was consciously promoting violation of labour laws. Around 90 per cent of the labour related disputes pertain to violation of laws related to minimum wages, working hours, maintenance of registers, deployment of contract labour, social security and trade union rights. The collusion of the government machinery and the employers was glaringly visible in the recent struggles led by CITU in Foxconn, Hyundai, BYD, Nokia and several other private establishments in Tamilnadu and Gurgaon in Haryana. In Allied Nippon in Ghaziabad a local hoodlum was appointed manager to intimidate workers. While this was the reality, the government seeks to legalise these violations through liberal exemptions to large sections of establishments.

It was in this scenario that the working class responded in a magnificent manner to the joint call of the trade unions for the all India general strike on September 7, on the five point charter of demands. The participation of INTUC in the joint action created enthusiasm among the workers. There were many struggles by workers in different parts of the country to protect their rights and working conditions during this period which reflects their determination to resist these attacks. To further intensify the struggles and carry the movement forward the central trade unions have decided to mobilise lakhs of workers in a ‘March to Parliament’ on February 23, 2011. The CITU must take up an extensive and intensive campaign to take the five point charter of demands that included control of price rise, expansion and effective implementation of PDS, effective implementation of labour laws, job protection, adequate financial allocation for providing social security benefits to all the unorganised sector workers and stopping of disinvestment.

The report on the review of organisation based on the Bhubaneswar Document recommendations , which was presented separately, noted the need to convert the increasing influence of CITU into its organisational strength by taking the necessary measures that include planned activities, expanding democratic functioning and conscious efforts at cadre development. The importance of organising the workers in the organised sector, particularly in the organised private sector, the contract workers and others in informal employment relations in the organised sector was emphasised in the report. The report also laid stress on overcoming the uneven development of the CITU.

Members representing all the state committees and industrial federations present spoke on both the reports and also reported the efforts that were going on for the mobilisation for the February 23 programme. They informed that the campaign was receiving very enthusiastic response from the workers and expressed confidence that the targets for mobilisation would be surpassed. Later both the reports along with the report of the credential committee placed by CITU treasurer Ranjana Nirula were unanimously adopted.

The general council called upon the working class to carefully watch the response of the government in its budget proposals and organise massive demonstrations all over the country immediately, if the demands of the workers and the people are not met.

The general council reiterated the decision of mobilising working women in large numbers at the state and district capitals to highlight the demands of equal wages, maternity benefits and crèche, eight hours work, reservation for women in legislative bodies, and amendments to the sexual harassment bill introduced by the government in the parliament, on March 8, 2011, on the occasion of the conclusion of the centenary of International Women’s Day. It has decided to publish a booklet on the occasion of the conclusion of the centenary of IWD. The proposal of the CITU secretariat to restart ‘Kamkaji Mahila’, as a quarterly journal in Hindi focussing on the issues of working women, replacing the present Hindi ‘Patrika’, was endorsed by the general council.

The general council also decided to conduct a massive campaign against the SEZ policy, on the EPF pension and against the unprecedented massive scams in which the leaders of Congress, BJP and several parties other than the Left are involved. The general council of the CITU called upon all its state committees and industrial federations to organise a nation wide campaign to expose the unholy nexus between the ruling class parties, the corporates and sections of corporate media and on the need to strengthen the Left. It was decided to conduct a campaign covering all the states against the rightward shift in policies and in support of the Left on March 21 – 27, 2011.

The CITU general council unanimously adopted a resolution placed by its secretary Swadesh Dev Roye and supported by Sukomal Sen, vice president of CITU, proposing that the CITU become an affiliate of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). It has decided to send a suitable delegation to participate in the WFTU Congress scheduled in April 2011 in Athens in Greece.

An impressive public meeting was organised by the Maharashtra state committee of CITU on January 8 in which thousands of workers from different industries, a large number of them women participated. The meeting was addressed by AK Padmanabhan, Tapan Sen, Hemalata, KL Bajaj, vice president, Adam Master, president and Dr KL Karad, general secretary of the state committee of CITU. Kavita Rout, the gold medal winner in 10 kilometres marathon in the recent Delhi Commonwealth games and her coach Jitendra Singh and Shreyas Dwivedi, a young differently abled boy who won Gold medal in inter-state Swimming competition, despite the physical deformities in both hands since birth, were felicitated in the public meeting.

The CITU expressed its gratitude to the working class and the people of Nasik and the Maharashtra state committee and Nasik district committees of the CITU who have extended all support for the successful and smooth conduct of its general council meeting.