People's Democracy

While Real India Bleeds,  ‘Reel’ India Shines

Countrywide General Strike on February 24

ALL is set for a massive countrywide strike, to affirm the right to strike, to say no to the disastrous economic policies of the government, which are leading to galloping unemployment, grinding poverty and reckless privatization – all to the drum beats of the IMF, World Bank and WTO.

“We are getting unprecedented response even from unexpected quarters,” CITU president M K Pandhe and general secretary Chittabrata Majumdar announced on February 12 at a crowed press conference at BTR Bhawan in New Delhi. They, however, regretted that INTUC central leadership had backed out after b­­eing signatory to the strike call, and the BMS known to be close to the government, had shied off earlier after failing to meet the President of India, while getting a reported assurance from the prime minister Vajpayee which was subsequently denied by the PMO.

It was pointed out, however, that a large chunk of the INTUC affiliated unions would join the strike. Good response is visible in states like West Bengal, Tripura, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, they announced.

Indications were available that the banks were set to be heading for a total closure. Defence establishments, too, through the All India Defence Employees Federation, would be witnessing the strike besides the central and state government federations, insurance, ports and docks, steel and mines and the coal sectors. Support from the  peasantry in variety of forms and from others through rasta roko and solidarity rallies would naturally be there. Student’s and youth would be joining in solidarity all over the country. 

“The right to strike was won after long struggles and it can’t be taken away”, Pandhe said and charged the prime minister with reneging on his promise to hold negotiations with the trade unions to undo the situation created by the Supreme Court judgement.

At the press conference, deep resentment was expressed by the leaders at US consulate in Kolkata maligning the trade union movement in the country which, they said, tantamounted to  interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.” Can you think of our ambassador in the USA commenting on anything there? Perhaps he would be declared persona non grata”, Pandhe said.

Full text of the statement released at the press conference is given below:

THE working class is going ahead with its preparations for the countrywide general strike on February 24, 2004, called by the major central trade unions along with all India federations of employees of state and central governments, banks, insurance, defence and other service sectors. The strike is to defend workers’ right to strike in the face of prohibitive judgement by the Supreme Court and also against the anti-people economic policies of the NDA government resulting in growing poverty, increasing unemployment, reckless privatisation and closures and onslaught on labour rights.

Joint trade union conventions have already been held in all the states in the months of December 03 – January 04, which have drawn wide participation by workers and unions of almost all affiliations. Reports have been received of strike notices served by the unions from all industrial centres of the country through joint demonstrations by February 9, 2004. Despite confusion being sought to be created by the government and the employers in various places regarding the efficacy of the strike action, the working class is going ahead with the preparation for the strike with firm resolve.

The NDA government is seeking to create confusion by its multi-crore ad-campaign on so called ‘feel good situation’ in the economy and on pre-election sops, which are mostly fraudulent, so far as the common people and workers are concerned. The so-called social security scheme for unorganised sector workers declared by the government without any structural, administrative and budgetary back-up is one example of such fraudulent tactics of the NDA government. The decision of merger of 50 per cent DA with basic pay for the central government employees was nothing but implementation of the 5^th pay commission recommendation, which had been accepted during the United Front regime. The NDA government can only claim of dubious credit for choosing the time for declaring the same keeping the elections in mind. But they are yet to issue the notification on the same. The government employees organisations, both in the states and the centre, have reiterated their resolve for the general strike on February 24.

The prime minister committed before the 39th Indian Labour Conference held on October, 2003 to have discussion with the trade unions on their grievances in the matter of Supreme Court judgment on right to strike and vindictive actions on the Tamilnadu government against its employees. The prime minister has reneged on his promise.

Moreover, in the month of December itself, in a communication to ILO in response to the complaint lodged by CITU and Public Service International on the Tamilnadu situation, the government of India fully endorsed all the repressive actions taken by the Tamilnadu government against its employees. It is only in the background of countrywide preparatory actions for the general strike on February 24, the Jayalalitha government had to decide on taking back the 999 dismissed employees and reduce the punitive actions on the striking employees. Yet, the grievous wounds inflicted by the state terrorism unleashed by the Jayalalitha regime during and after the strike remain an inerasable scar among the state employees and their families.

The major issues on which the strike had been called are yet to be addressed. The judicial ban on right to strike for the government employees in particular and others in general is not acceptable to the working class. The campaign on the so called feel-good-factor indulged in by the NDA government is draining out huge public money at a time when the country and the majority of the people are actually witnessing deepening poverty, growing unemployment and job-losses, aggravating industrial sickness and closures.  The working class of the country is going to assert their forceful condemnation against all these happenings, while upholding their resolve to defend their “Right to Strike”.

The February 24 strike will assert that the working India is only feeling hurt and deceived by the NDA regime and the real India of the masses bleeding,  while the ‘reel’ India of the MNCs, corporate and speculative lobbies alone is ‘shining’ with the patronage and favours showered on them by the ‘reforms’ savvy NDA regime.

The CITU also denounces the nasty comments made by the US consul-general at Kolkata challenging the trade union movement in the country, which tantamounts to interference on the internal affairs of a sovereign country. At Kolkata, the working people today are going to convey their condemnation to such interference through massive demonstration before the USIS.

The CITU calls upon the working class to further intensify the preparations and make the February 24 General Strike ( ninth such massive action against the disastrous economic policies in the country) a massive success. (INN)