The trade unions in Delhi organised a convention to make preparations for the Grand Strike to be held 9 to 11 November. The convention was held in Ram Mohan Roy hall on 7 October 2017.
The trade unions in Delhi organised a convention to make preparations for the Grand Strike to be held 9 to 11 November. The convention was held in Ram Mohan Roy hall on 7 October 2017.
 |
 |
Trade union leaders and activists including workers participated in large numbers in this convention. Representatives of CITU, AITUC, HMS, INTUC, AICCTU, AIUTUC, UTUC, TUCC, SEVA, LPF and Mazdoor Ekta Committee were present at the convention. Workers from railways, insurance companies, banks, and various industrial areas of Delhi participated in the convention.
It must be noted that trade unions at various levels, from center to state and industry, are making hectic preparation for organising a mass strike demonstration against the anti-people, anti-worker and anti-national policies of the government and to press for their demands. Similar conventions are being held across the country at state, district levels as well as across various sectors of the economy.
Leaders of various trade unions addressed the convention.
All the speakers highlighted the attacks that are being organised against the working class. They presented an overview of the preparations being made towards the grand strike, and appealed to those present to pool in all their energies for making the action a success. They appealed to all to hold similar conventions in various industrial areas, mobilizing the workers in carrying out extensive propaganda.
Addressing the convention Comrade Santosh Kumar of Mazdoor Ekta Committee said that during the election grand announcements are made and slogans are coined like “Garibi hatao”, “Shining India”, “Elimination of Corruption”, “acche din”, etc, but neither poverty had reduced, nor has India started shining, neither corruption has been eliminated, nor have good times heralded for the people. All the trade union leaders are well aware of this reality.
Further he said that “whichever party comes to power, its main task is to implement the programme of the capitalists, that of privatization, liberalization, and globalization. In 2001 when the privatization of Modern Foods was undertaken, NDA government was at the center. At that time the disinvestment minister Arun Shourie had said that making bread is not the business of the government. Similarly they had declared that providing various public services is not the duty of the government. Today various public sectors companies and services are being handed over to capitalists including railways, education, health care, defence, aviation, petroleum production, etc. The attacks that Modi government is unleashing are the once they have learnt from earlier congress governments. It hardly matters how murder is committed, whether it is slow death or is done in one shot – murder is after all a murder.
It is claimed that the trade unions should not get involved in politics. That argument is completely wrong. All the various systems and institutions – economy, judiciary, parliament, state assemblies, media – how they run, is determined by politics. In our opinion every worker, peasant, women and youth in our country should learn politics, but learn and practice working class politics, the way Bhagat Singh and his comrades, and Hindostan Gadar Party used to do. This politics is for bringing the workers, peasants and working people of our country to power.
Trade union across the country are preparing for the 9-10-11 November action. Lahks of workers will participate in this action. We should go amongst them and expose the judiciary, the parliament, the assemblies, the media and all the instruments of this state, and tell them that all these institutions have been designed to serve the interest of capitalist class. To make this protest action into a success they should be armed with politics of the working class, and we must call them to fight for renewal of our society, such that the political power will rest in the hands of the workers and peasants. Only then it will be possible to ensure prosperity and security for all the people.
The proceedings of the convention were coordinated by comrade Anurag Saxena. Those who addressed the convention included Shreepal of INTUC, comrade Dhirendra Sharma of AITUC, comrade Harbajan Singh Siddhu of HMS, comrade Pant of CITU, comrade Santosh Rai of AICCTU, comrade Nazim Hasan of UTUC, comrade R K Sharma, Lata from SEVA, Sanjay from LPF, and comrade Santosh Kumar of Mazdoor Ekta Committee.