People's Democracy

NOVEMBER 9, the day of commencement of WTO ministerial meeting at Doha (Qatar), was observed as Global Trade Union Action Day to say "No to Globalisation" throughout the world. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) had jointly called for observance of this day. The main slogans of the Global Day of Action were:

• No to globalisation that drives down workers’ rights and job security;
• No to globalisation that undermines education and healthcare;
• No to globalisation that helps the rich and hurts the poor;
• No to globalisation that stifles and denies democracy.

In India, all the central trade unions viz., the CITU, AITUC, HMS, INTUC, BMS, UTUC, UTUC (LS), TUCC and AICCTU had, in a joint statement, called upon the working class to observe the Global Protest Day on November 9 by holding joint demonstrations and rallies all over the country. The central trade unions had also highlighted the five point demands, in pursuit of which united action programmes were already being staged in India since July last, viz.:

• Against thoughtless privatisation of profit making and potentially viable PSUs including defence sector industries;
• Against the move of changing labour laws in favour of the employers;
• For immediate enactment of a comprehensive legislation for agricultural workers;
• Against removal of quantitative restrictions on imports much to the detriment of industry, agriculture and national interest as a whole;
• Against the policies leading to severe aggravation of joblessness and unemployment.

All the Indian trade unions issued a joint communiqué on November 7 reiterating the call for observance of the Global Protest Day, and also cautioned the government not to succumb to the pressure of the transnational companies lobby in the WTO ministerial meeting at Doha "starting a new round" on the issues of ‘multilateral agreement on investment (MAI),’ ‘linking labour standard with trade,’ ‘policies relating to agricultural sector’, etc., without a thorough review of the implementation and impact of the earlier round.

The joint call for observance of the Global Protest Day created high enthusiasm among the workers and trade unions throughout the country. In the preparatory process itself, thousands of meetings were organised at factory gates, in workers’ townships and industrial centres all over the country. Several millions of printed pamphlets in almost all Indian languages were published and distributed among the workers; tens of thousands of posters were also released.

On November 9, countless number of joint rallies, demonstrations and processions were held in almost all the district towns of the country, amidst great enthusiasm by the workers with the slogan "No To Imperialist Globalisation" renting the air and raising voice against the machinations being planned in the WTO ministerial meeting at Doha. The huge workers assemblies all over the country were made colourful by the flags and festoons of various trade unions of all affiliations.

Summaries of the reports received so far from various states on observance of the Global Protest Day are being given below.

Thousands of huge processions, rallies and demonstration, joined by tens of thousands of workers and common people, were reported from all the districts, subdivisions and block headquarters, both in rural and urban areas and in major industrial centres of the state. Workers, peasants, agricultural workers, teachers and other masses participated in the actions in large numbers. The statewide rallies and mobilisation also carried on with them a mass signature campaign against the retrograde anti-national policies of the government at the centre, several lakhs of signatures were collected.

In Kolkata, a huge mass rally of more than 20,000 people was held in the Esplanade area, which was also joined by the unions and associations of teachers, central and state government employees, banks, insurance and other offices and establishments, besides the unions affiliated to the central trade unions sponsoring the action programme. Several independent unions and the 12 July Committee also took a leading role in the statewide protest programmes.

Massive demonstrations took place in at least 100 centres throughout the state. In the districts of Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Kottayam only, more than 30 huge demonstrations were held. Reports of similar massive demonstrations were also received from Kalamassery and other industrial centres and districts, which drew the participation of not only the workers but also of common people, agricultural workers and others from all walks of life.

In the state capital Thiruvanantapuram, a protest rally with the participation of several thousand workers took place, where the leaders of all central trade unions addressed. In other districts as well militant anti-WTO demonstrations were jointly organised by all trade unions.

In more than 50 centres in the state, covering all districts and industrial locations, massive demonstrations and rallies took place, braving inclement weather and rains throughout the day. Besides the sponsoring central trade unions, the trade unions affiliated to the AIADMK, TMTUC and MDMK also took active part in the programmes in some places. In the state capital Chennai, a huge rally of the industrial workers and employees of banks, insurance, state and central government offices and other services was held near the Central Railway Station. In the early hours of the day, gate meetings took place in almost all the offices and factories, and were joined by the workers en masse.

In Visakhapatnam, thousands of workers staged a twelve hour-long dharna. Workers of the steel plant, Bharat Heavy Plates & Vessels Ltd, Hindustan Zync, and Shipyard workers took part along with their families. In the state capital Hyderabad, a centralised dharna was organised, where all the sponsoring central trade unions along with the government employees and other independent organisations participated. In Srikakulam and Vijaywada, AP Agricultural Workers Union and AP Rytu Sangam joined the protest demonstrations. In the demonstrations organised at Guntur, Prakasam, Nalgonda and Karnool districts, effigies of World Bank, the IMF and WTO were burnt.

In the county’s capital Delhi a day long dharna was staged at Jantar-Mantar (near parliament), joined by several hundreds of workers. They were addressed by the leaders of all the nine central trade unions. Preceding this, a massive protest was also held on November 6, under the banner of the National Campaign Committee a platform of resistance to globalisation offensive.

Thousands of workers demonstrated at several places in districts Mangalore, Tumkur, Mysore, Hassan, Belarry and, Raichur, besides other centres in the state. In the state capital Bangalore, a 9000 strong workers’ procession marched through the main roads of the city and converged in a mass rally before the governor’s residence. A memorandum was submitted to the governor, highlighting the opposition of the working class to the policies of imperialist globalisation. Besides the sponsoring central trade union organisations, HMKP and the Joint Action Front of the Bangalore-based public sector workers also took active part in the programme.

Massive processions and demonstrations were organised in Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu, Bikaner, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Alwar, Bharatpur, Kota, Udaypur, Kankroli, Bhilwara, Chitorgarh, Jodhpur, Bhopalsagar and Rawatbhatta. In the state capital Jaipur, a huge procession of several thousands of workers culminated in a mass demonstration before the state government secretariat, which was addressed by the leaders of all the national trade union centres and also by leaders of the independent unions of the employees of banks, insurance, state and central government employees etc.

Demonstrations, dharnas and rallies were staged in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Asron, Ropar, Patiala, Sangrur, Ludhiana and Malout, and in other districts, where thousands of workers participated. In the state capital Chandigarh, a big public rally was held, addressed by leaders of various trade union centres.

Massive joint demonstrations were held at all the district headquarters in the state, where workers, both rural and urban, cutting across affiliations, participated in huge numbers. People from all walks of life were mobilised, particularly at Hissar, Zind, Bhiwani and Rohtak. Besides the unions affilitated to all the central trade unions, the Sarva Karmachari Sangh, representing the state government employees, took a frontline role in mobilising the employees all over the state. Participation of the employees of bank and insurance sectors was also noteworthy. In the demonstration slogans were also raised against the repressive and anti-people rule of the Haryana state government.

The state capital Bhubaneswar witnessed a huge procession by several thousand workers, which after marching through the main roads of the city, gathered before the state legislature to hold a big public rally. The leaders of all the sponsoring trade union centres addressed the mass meeting.

Demonstrations and rallies by tens of thousands of workers were reported from 72 different places in the state, covering industrial centres, tea gardens, rubber-plantations, fisheries, transport sector and office establishments and services in the state. People from all walks of life participated. In the state capital Agartala, a huge mass meeting was held at Kaman Chowmuhani, which was addressed by the leaders of various central trade unions.

In the state capital Guwahati, a huge rally was held in the Judges-Field ground, which drew several thousands of people from all walks of life.

Demonstrations and rallies were reported from Bareilly, Varanasi, Agra and Kanpur. In Kanpur, while a huge rally of thousands of workers was organised in the evening, several gate meetings took place in the morning hours in all major factories. In the state capital Lucknow, a big demonstration before the state legislature was organised.

Demonstrations and rallies joined by thousands of workers, were reported from Jabalpur, Indore, Gwalior, and Ujjain. In the state capital Bhopal, a huge mass rally was held. Leaders of all the sponsoring organisations addressed the rally. Reports of dharna and demonstrations have come in from all the coalmines in the state. At Singrauli, a massive day long dharna was organised by the coal miners before the headquarters of the Northern Coal Fields Ltd.

A huge demonstration, joined by thousands of workers was held in the state capital Raipur. Reports of demonstrations, were also received from Bhilai Steel Township and the colliery areas of South Eastern Coal Fields Ltd.

Reports have also come in from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and other states, where action programmes were successfully staged from the state capital down to the block/sub-division level.