Items filtered by date: December 2016

9th December 2016

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions expresses its anguish over the retrograde decision of the Narendra Modi Govt to reduce the import duty on wheat nil as an open-ended measure and condemns such anti-farmer decision.
The decision has come at a time when the country witnessed a better monsoon and expects increase in production of wheat, which happens to be major product engaging a big section of our country’s farmers; also global price of wheat is witnessing decline.
Such measure of making wheat import duty free will open the floodgate of wheat import in our country to benefit the agro-MNCs in the background of depressed global whet price; this is going to be disastrous for the country’s agricultural sector as a whole affecting our farmers and agricultural workers in a big way.
CITU demands upon the Govt to withdraw the notification making wheat import duty free and calls upon the workers and toiling people to raise their voice of protest and opposition to such anti-farmenr, anti-people disastrous decision of the Govt

Issued by
( TAPAN SEN )
General Secretary

The fifteenth national conference of CITU that concluded in Puri, Odisha on 30th November, gave a clarion call to build up more unity among all sections of workers and other toiling people to strengthen the struggle against the anti-worker, anti-people policies of the government at the centre.

The conference called upon all affiliated unions to organise the following countrywide movement:

• 22nd December 2016: Countrywide demonstrations of contract, casual workers along with the regular workers demanding implementation of same wage and benefits for same and similar jobs in various sectors. This will mark the beginning of a continuous movements and struggle on this issue on which the Supreme Court has also given a Judgment recently.
• · 19th January 2017: Joint rallies of workers, peasants and agricultural workers expressing support and solidarity to the demands of the peasants and agricultural Workers. This day marks the 35th year of the historic countrywide strike of the trade unions on 19th January 1982, in which the charter of demands included the demands of all sections of toiling masses. Ten persons including workers and agricultural workers were shot dead by police in various states on that day.
• · 20th January 2017: Country wide strike of all scheme workers in the country along with demonstrations at various centres on 20th January 2017 demanding that the scheme workers be given the status of workers instead of being treated as volunteers and be given minimum wages and social security benefits including pension as was recommended by the 45th Indian Labour Conference.

The inaugural session of the conference, on 26th November was addressed by national leaders of other central trade union including those from INTUC, AITUC, AIUTUC, AICCTU, UTUC and LPF. Leaders of different federations of employees and of All India Kisan Sabha, All India Agricultural Workers’ Union, All India Democratic Women’s Association, Democratic Youth Federation of India and Students Federation of India also addressed the delegates.

2023 delegates including 447 women delegates from 24 states and representing all public, private organised and unorganised sectors and various sections of scheme workers attended the conference. These delegates were elected in their respective state conferences held prior to the all India conference.

The conference discussed all important issues confronting the workers, the policies of the central and state governments, including demonetisation, the attacks on the fundamental rights of workers, social injustices and the divisive attempts of communalism.

The conference also had detailed discussion on the necessary measures to be taken to strengthen CITU as a strong country wide organisation.

Special discussions were held on impacts of globalisation, on communalism and on building untied movements of workers, peasants and agricultural workers.

New Leadership
The Conference unanimously elected Dr. K. Hemalata as President, Tapan Sen as General Secretary and M.L. Malkotia as Treasurer. Sixteen Vice Presidents including the outgoing President A.K. Padmanabhan and 16 Secretaries were elected. These 35 comrades will from the Secretariat where six are new inductions. They are M.L. Malkotia (Delhi), Dr. K.L. Karad (Maharashtra), Baby Rani (Andhra Pradesh), K. Chandran Pillai (Kerala), Meenakshi Sundaram (Karnataka), and Usha Rani (President of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers).

The Conference also elected a 460 member General Council including the Secretariat members which in turn elected a 160 member Working Committee.

Issued by
A R Sindhu