People's Democracy

 CITU 11TH CONFERENCE

Towards Intensified Struggles And Class Unity

W R Varada Rajan

AFTER 24 long years, Chennai will once again be hosting the all India conference of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on December 9-13, 2003. The previous occasion was in 1979. The third conference of the CITU held at Chennai in 1979 is still cherished for two important developments, besides others. One, it was in that year the CITU took the initiative of organising an all India convention of working women, where the All India Coordination Committee of Working Women came into being. It heralded a significant step in organising the women workers into the fold of trade union movement in a big way and in developing women cadres to take leadership positions in trade unions. The second was the clarion call issued by Comrade B T Ranadive, the founder-president of the CITU, for the formation of a confederation of all trade unions in the country to reflect the united voice of the working people of the country and launch joint movements on major policy issues of concern to the workers. Both these initiatives have relentlessly been pursued by the CITU over these long years.

The eleventh conference is slated to be held at Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, which witnessed both the heroic strike by over 13 lakh government employees and teachers as also the unprecedented state terrorism let loose by the Jayalalitha regime there. Enemies of the working class may rejoice with unconcealed glee over the totally unacceptable interference of the apex judiciary of the country declaring that the workers of the country cannot lay claim on right to strike. But, the fighting brigades of the CITU, from every nook and corner of the country, will descend in the city with a resolve to give a fitting rebuff to the powers that be that the working class will defend its unalienable right to strike, by organising more and more of intensified and militant actions.

Even as the Supreme Court came out with its pronouncements denying the workers their right to strike, the CITU promptly pointed out that this is not just an onslaught on workers but on the very democratic rights of the mass of the people. The subsequent dramatic events following the sentences of imprisonment delivered by the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu on the news media persons, taking umbrage under the hitherto uncodified privileges of the legislature have proved the point beyond doubt. The working people, both in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere in the country, stood in the forefront to defend the freedom of the press, in solidarity with the entire media persons protesting against the draconian move of a despotic regime.

In this backdrop, the CITU conference at Chennai is meeting at a defining moment for the trade union movement in the country. With the entire spectrum of the trade union movement having unitedly resolved to enter a decisive action phase to defend the right to strike, CITU will chalk plans to carry the resistance struggle to further heights.

REVIEW OF STRUGGLES

The CITU conference will, true to its tradition, undertake a thorough review of the struggles and activities since the conclusion of the last conference at Hyderabad in December, 2000.

During the period since the last conference, the CITU had come out with two important documents, after in depth deliberations in its various fora viz. CITU secretariat, working committee and the general council. The first one is a review on “United Struggles and Consolidation of Trade Union Movement”, which had, after a thorough going analysis of the organisational shortcomings of the CITU at all levels, drawn up a road map for unifying the working class movement to meet the challenges of the present times. The second one on “Combating the Offensive of Communalism”, which after analysing the resurgence of right wing, reactionary and communal forces throwing up a formidable challenge to the unity of the working class and the people by their fascistic and genocidal onslaughts, had drawn up strategies – both for the long and short term – for relentlessly fighting the communal offensive to be carried on all three fronts: economic, political and ideological.

Besides undertaking these two serious reviews, the CITU had also made consistent efforts to take up implementation of tasks outlined in the 1993 Resolution on Organisation, popularly known as Bhubaneshwar document, at all levels.

During the period since the last conference the central government had mounted a serious attack on trade union and labour rights. In fact, the so called second generation reforms are based, inter alia, on the government’s game plan to totally dismantle the labour laws and impose conditions of slavery on the working class. The bartering away of the priceless assets of the economy by way of indiscriminate sale of even the profit making public sector units, often marked by scams and scandals and the constantly aggravating unemployment problem, which has assumed menacing proportions, have been the affronts thrown up by the NDA regime, with the CITU engaging itself in countering them through sustained struggles.

FUTURE TASKS

The 11th conference of the CITU will make an introspective review of these struggles and chalk out the tasks for the future.

The tasks tentatively drawn up by the CITU secretariat for presentation to the conference include the following:

1.     Strengthen campaign among the working class about the dangerous consequences of the policies of globalisation and place concrete alternate policies of the democratic path of development;

2.     Strive to unite the working class of all affiliations on common slogans against the IMF, World Bank and WTO dictates and launch powerful united struggle all over India;

3.     Strengthen the activities of Sponsoring Committees and NPMO and develop them as genuine platform of united popular struggles to protect the national interests;

4.     Expose and isolate forces within the trade union movement which seek to divide the working class and objectively fulfil the requirements of the capitalist class.

5.     Develop closer relationship with kisan and agricultural workers movement as bedrock of the popular struggles against the policies of globalisation;

6.     Intensify campaign against communal forces that divert the attention of the people to parochial and fundamentalist issues and disrupt the popular unity against the policies of globalisation;

7.     Develop closer relations with anti-globalisation movements all over the world while making serious efforts to make the World Social Forum at Mumbai successful;

8.     Prepare for a nation wide strike against the attack on TU and democratic rights including right to strike;

9.     Strengthen the democratic functioning of CITU as an independent mass organisation and raise its membership to 4 million by the end of 2004;

10. Observe the birth centenary of Comrade B T Ranadive through a year-long intensive educational campaign through trade union classes, seminars, popular lectures etc on ideological and organisational issues and on Comrade BTR’s teachings. 

11. Involve working class more and more in political actions and in the worldwide struggle against imperialist machinations and for a universal struggle for a socialist transformation of the society.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

During the run up to the CITU conference several campaign jathas will be taken out from different parts of the country, all of them, after covering the length and breadth of the country taking the message of the CITU and its fight against the twin dangers of communalism and economic policies, will converge in Chennai on December 8.

Apart from the general secretary’s report that will be debated extensively by the conference, commission discussions will be held on (1) Imperialism, Globalisation and National Sovereignty; (2) Unemployment: A TU Perspective; (3) Fight for Genuine Social Security; (4) On Child Labour; (5) Attack on Labour Rights and (6) On Unorganised Sector.

As a part of the CITU all India conference, the seventh Conference of AICCWW was held on October 11-12, 2003 at Mumbai. A declaration on the tasks before the CITU on the problems of working women, emanating from the discussions during the Mumbai conference, will also be deliberated at the CITU conference for eventual adoption and implementation.

Over fifty delegates from the international fraternity, representing around thirty countries, will be participating in the CITU conference, reflecting the growing international solidarity assiduously built up by the CITU over the years.

All the central trade unions and leaders of the fraternal mass organisations have been invited to greet the Chennai conference, which will go to further cement the unity in action against the disastrous policies of the government, which has hitherto been carried on under the aegis of all central trade unions, sponsoring committee of trade unions comprising both central trade unions and several industry level federations and the national platform of mass organisations.

The concluding day of the conference will witness a massive rally for which the CITU aims to mobilise around two lakh workers and their families. Marching with red flags and festoons, the working people will loudly proclaim their resolve to relentlessly carry forward the struggles to culminate in the ouster of the treacherous NDA regime at the centre and the despotic AIADMK rule in Tamil Nadu.

TAMIL NADU PREPARES

The Tamil Nadu CITU state committee has started preparations for hosting the conference in right earnest. The Reception Committee for the conference has been constituted under the presidentship of the veteran freedom fighter and former president of the All India Kisan Sabha, N Sankaraiah. T K Rengarajan, CITU vice president, both at the national and state level, is the general convenor. Several functional sub-committees had been constituted to look after venue, logistics, reception, transportation, accommodation, catering, international delegations, rally and public meeting.

The entire CITU in the state had swung into a massive fund raising campaign throughout Tamil Nadu. The state leaders of the CITU have fanned out to all districts addressing huge gatherings of CITU activists and workers, highlighting the significance of holding the 11th conference of the CITU in Chennai at this juncture.

In all the districts of Tamil Nadu, hundreds of squads have been formed with the target of meeting 30 lakh families for explaining CITU policies against liberalisation and globalisation offensives of the central and state governments. This house-to-house campaign has received enthusiastic support from all sections of the people in the state. People are coming forward with their grievances and look forward to the CITU as the champion in fighting their cause.

The CITU cadre has virtually painted the state red with extensive wall writings announcing the 11th conference. A large volume of campaign materials have been brought out. The entire state is brimming with conference related activities by the CITU unions and cadres, joined by those from fraternal organisations as well.

Towards intensified struggles and class unity, Chennai beacons!