41St Session,General Secretary Report 25-28 February 2016
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25-28, February 2016 Draft 41ST SESSION AITUC GENERAL SECRETARY REPORT 15-18 DECEMBER, 2015 COIMBATORE TAMILNADU ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS 35-36, D.D.U. Marg, Rouse Avenue, New Delhi-110002 Tel.: 23217320 Fax: 23222427 E-mail: [email protected] 79 Published and Printed by Shri. Gurudas Das Gupta, General Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, for AITUC, AITUC BHAWAN, 35,36 DDU Marg, Rouse Avenue, New Delhi-110002, Phone: 011 23217320, Fax : 011 23222427, E-mail: [email protected], Printed by Aanklan. Ph. 23382815 80 GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT TO THE 41ST CONFERENCE OF AITUC During more than a decade, there has been significant development in the trade union movement of the country. While there have been ups and downs, on the whole, there have been forward movement. The process of building trade union unity has led to the formation of a single platform, all the trade unions had come together on the basis of a charter having ten vital demands of the working masses in September 2009. Under its banner multiple agitation, Satyagraha, local rallies, general strikes, conventions had taken place. The process reached a new height in two day strike in February 2013. Another unforgettable event was the march to Parliament in 2013. The agitation reached a historic height on 2nd September, 2015 with a massive sweep throughout the country. Of late, there has been a negative development. The Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh has moved out of the forum on plea that BJP Government had taken a positive stand with regard to the charter of demands. This is baseless. The withdrawal of BMS by and large has not affected the unity at the grassroot level. The general strike on 2nd September, 2015 was wonderful. Undaunted by the threat of the liberalisation and labour law reforms, police action, corporate aggression, state apparatus colluding with the corporate managements, working people have moved into action in different parts of the country. The mood of the workers has stimulated. During all these years, the contradiction between the interest of the working masses and the policy of the government has sharpened. The Hyderabad Conference took place in 2001. In the years, preceding the Conference, there was eventful developments. The significant development is the rapid implementation of the new economic policy. Nearly four lakh jobs were lost in the public sector. In banking alone, one lakh seventeen thousand employees had opted for voluntary retirement scheme. Even in the service sector, particularly in the IT sector, volume of job was frozen on the plea of recession having set in USA. The 1 BJP Government at that time had aggressively implemented the policy of downsizing. The Indian Railways was asked to abandon the social responsibility. The taskforce of the Planning Commission suggested liberalisation of labour laws to allow hire and fire, enable fixed time employment. The BJP Government’s anti-labour policy was also implemented by the private sector. The State Government followed the suit. Next to downsizing, disinvestment and privatisation was the order of the day. The Tenth Plan Approach Paper also called upon the Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to carry forward relentlessly the policy of liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation. Even in the background of massive shift in the economic policy under BJP Government, working class unity could not be achieved. Sponsoring Committee was in place. It was mainly a combination of Left trade unions. Massive national convention was held in Talkatora Stadium. A huge march to Parliament was organised. But the most significant action was the nationwide strike on 11th May, 2000. Mention must be made of the heroic 67 days strike against public sector (BALCO) takeover by the Sterlite private company. During the BJP rule, the intensification of the attack of the corporate, the virulent violation of labour laws, loss of job and shameful connivance of the ruling clique with the corporates bewildered the workers. There was short time passivity. But gradually mood of the workers changed. In 2004 election BJP got defeated. But the UPA failed to get the magic number. The Left got the highest ever Members in Lok Sabha. The Left decided to support Congress for the formation of the government on the basis of a common minimum programme. The 30th Session of AITUC was held in New Delhi from 26th to 30th November, 2005 under the changed political scenario. After one and a half years of its existence, it became clear that the government sought to waiver between its commitment to the people and its allegiance to the framework of economic reform to favour domestic and global capital. While enacting a law for 100 days work for all able bodied persons in the rural areas, it started working through the backdoor to dilute the law for labour to satisfy 2 the whim of the private corporates without any social safeguard. The agenda of labour reform was mischievously linked with the degree of economic growth and also level of investment. After the defeat of the BJP Government, with the coming to power of UPA, the workers’ mood was upbeat. The countrywide protest against the brutal lathi-charge on the striking employees of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India in Gurgaon was unique. The struggle of the workers led to the victory. All the dismissed employees had to be taken back by the Japanese management. It was a landmark development. During the same period, there was countrywide agitation by the Airports Authority unions against privatisation of the airports. But the most remarkable event was the general strike of September 2005. Despite trade union unity not being achieved, it was a gallant success. During the period, AITUC along with its associates played a remarkable role in mobilising relief for the tsunami victims, more than a crore of rupees was handed over to the Prime Minister of the country. AITUC organised the massive rally of the unorganised workers in November, 2006. A mass petition of one crore working people was handed over to the then Speaker, Lok Sabha, Shri Somnath Chatterjee on the demands of the working people. To add further, mention must be made of the successful general strike on 28th August, 2008. It was also called by the sponsoring committee which did not include the INTUC and BMS. Prior to the strike, there was a massive march to Parliament on 23rd November, 2006. During this period, contract workers having a stimulated mood had gone into action. The other feature was immense hype in the activism of the women workers. During the tenure of the UPA-1, report of the Sixth Pay Commission was published. It was a retrograde report. It recommended the abolition of class IV category of staff. While the 38th Conference of AITUC was held in Delhi, it was during this period that the AITUC was declared by the Labour Department as the third largest trade union of the country having 34 lakh of members. While antagonism among the workers 3 was brewing, the contradiction between the interest of workers, working people and the policy of the government deepened further. The working class struggle got intensified. During the three years ending on December 2008, the economic situation remained grim. The convulsion of global economic crisis had hit India too. In fact, the large public sector of the country had acted as a shield and largely protected India. Even then the turbulence itself made itself felt. Inflation along with recession played havoc. The foreign exchange reserves had declined. The Sensex tumbled. The corporates talked of soft option. Job cut and wage cut were on the agenda. Capitalism nowadays does not seek to maximise profit by producing more goods and commodities expanding their sale. The new strategy is to generate wealth doing financial transactions, making money in the air, visiting speculative transaction. It is this morbidity that had brought the disaster. The journey from Delhi to Trivandrum was eventful. During this period all out unity had taken a shape. A massive convention took place in Mavalankar Hall in Delhi on 14th September, 2009. When the announcement of the all out unity was made, deafening applause greeted the decision. Historic unity was thus created. From 2009 to November, 2012, the trade union activity was inspiring. A joint massive rally to Parliament was organised. On 28th February, 2012, one day strike took place against the policies of the government. Nearly ten crore working people participated in the strike. Even the capitalist press had to admit that the workers were boiling in anger. The Government was unfazed. Therefore, it was decided to take the agitation to a higher pitch. The idea was having two day strike. In a huge convention on 4th September, 2012 attended by thousands of activists held in Talkatora Stadium also with the participation of affiliated and unaffiliated unions. Two phased programme was adopted. A countrywide law violation programme was planned. A march to Parliament was decided. Finally a two day general strike on 20th and 21st February, 2013 was also decided. Since the government was so aggressive pushing 4 forward the neo liberal economic policy, the trade unions having been pushed to the wall had no other alternative but to take on the challenge. The 40th Session of AITUC at Mumbai from 27th to 30th November, 2012 was entirely dedicated to the preparation of the action programme. The conference had turned into a symbol of militant unity. All the three thousand delegates rose in ovation to support the action programme, law violation on 18th and 19th September, 2012, march to Parliament on 20th December, 2012 and two day general strike on 20th and 21st February, 2013. This gave the glorious opportunity to rise and accomplish the historic task of launching the counter-offensive to face the government’s aggression.