Make the 2nd September 2015 All India Strike a historic success.
Dear Comrades,
We have placed on our website the synopsis of
the discussion the leaders of the Central Trade Unions had with the Group of
Ministers on the 12 point charter of demands. The Central Trade Unions
evaluated the Government’s response to the strike call and have come to the
conclusion that in the absence of any tangible result, the strike action must
take place. The only issue on which there had been a concrete proposal
from the Government was on the question of raising the bonus ceiling. In
fact such an assurance has been given by the earlier Government also. Due
to the pressure exerted by the employing class, the said assurance could not be
translated into reality. To have the assurance to be put into practice,
the Bonus Act has to be amended and that is possible only in the next session
of the parliament. In other words, if one is to believe the assurance
held out by the Government on the question of raising the ceiling for bonus
computation, it can only have prospective effect i.e. for the next year
2016. We firmly believe that the corporate would not allow the present
government to give effect to this assurance. The acrimonious ceiling on
bonus while allowing unlimited extraction of profit for the companies is to be
fought out through bitter struggles.
There had been no word
from the Government on the question of rolling back its proposals on the labour
reforms. The proposed labour reforms will hurt the working class most.
The regularization of contract workers, payment of minimum wage, ensuring
statutory Pension benefit, the registration or recognition of trade unions
within a stipulated time limit to enable the workers to have the right to
collective bargaining, the non implementation of the agreements reached at the
various tripartite Labour conferences were some of the significant issues on
which the working class sought settlement. Introduction of 100% FDI
in Railways, 49% in Defence, corporatisation
& privatisation of government entities, end for
contract/casual temporary employment also met with stoic silence or rejection.
The Group of Ministers has successfully eluded the issues. The BMS unions have
declared that they would withdraw from the strike action. Their decision
being political based is understandable, but is difficult to appreciate. We can
only hope against hope that they would realize the reality of the situation in
the days to come and become part of the joint struggles very soon.
The 7th CPC has sought further
time to submit its report. They are now likely to submit their report by
31st December, 2015. Given the way the commission had
acted on this vital issue, we are not certain of it. It is on the
specious plea that they would be submitting their report within the stipulated
time, they had rejected our demand for interim relief. They ought to have
submitted an interim report to the Government before seeking further time on
the memorandum submitted by the Staff Side on merger of DA and Interim
relief. Even if the report is submitted say by 31stDecember,
2015, which we feel is unlikely, the Government is bound to take another
six months to take a view on the Commission’s recommendations. It
is incumbent upon the National JCA to meet immediately and take appropriate
decision in the light of the unexpected step taken by the Commission in seeking
further time to submit its report. They must go ahead with the decision
to go on strike from 23rd November, 2015 demanding the
Commission to submit urgently an interim report on merger of DA and Interim
relief.
There had been no
positive steps taken by the government to revive the functioning of the JCM at
National or Departmental levels. There appears to be no intention on their
part to cause discussion on our charter of demands. In this
background we must revitalize and rejuvenate the functioning of our
Organizations at all levels. We have received excellent reports of the
strike preparation from all over the country.
DO EVERYTHING NEEDED TO MAKE
THE 2ND SEPTEMBER, STRIKE A STUPENDOUS SUCCESS.
With greetings,
Yours fraternally,
M.Krishnan
Secretary General
