The General Council of CITU, the highest policy making body of CITU after its triennial National Conference, is meeting in Hyderabad at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram Auditorium from 16^th -18^th November, 2021. The meeting started with the  flag hoisting by the All India President Dr.K.Hemalata followed by paying floral tributes at the martyr’s column. The inaugural session was chaired by Dr.K.Hemalata, President, CITU. Chukka Ramulu, CITU Telangana State President  and Chairman, Reception Committee, has welcomed the Office Bearers and the General Council Members who have assembled there. Around 350 out of 465 General Council Members including 38 National Office Bearers attended the meeting.

Then CITU All India President Dr.K.Hemalata has delivered her presidential address. At the outset she has congratulated and saluted CITU’s all state committees, affiliated unions, all  cadres, activists and supporters who have made commendable efforts in providing relief to the workers, particularly the migrant workers who lost their jobs, income and shelter during the pandemic. In an exemplary display of working class solidarity, they have mobilised all the necessary financial and human resources, way beyond their regular organisational capacity.

The she expressed CITU’s solidarity with the working class of Tripura who have bravely been resisting the barbaric attacks unleashed by the BJP goons with the open support of the BJP government in the state.

In her presidential address Dr.Hemalata, recalled that how pandemic situation has created a new situation where all economic activities abruptly came to halt due to the unplanned lockdown in the first spell and the staggered lockdown imposed in the wake of second wave of coronavires.

In addition to the huge loss of  human lives due to this new disease, crores of people, particularly the poor, lost their only sources of livelihood due to the restrictions and were pushed into destitution and misery.While the poor were subjected to unforeseen hardships, the ruling classes world over, used the pandemic as a ruse to come out of the long drawn global economic crisis by imposing further burdens on the working class and other toiling sections.

This pandemic  has exposed not only the failure of neoliberalism but also the inadequacy of the capitalist system itself in meeting the basic needs of the people especially the basic health needs. It has highlighted the contrast between the profit-driven capitalist system that prioritises corporate greed over people’s lives and livelihoods and the socialist system where people’s welfare are treated as priorities.

So, the global economic crisis that was started before pandemic is still continuing and further worsened the situations. Nevertheless the “Supur Rich” and the mega corporate business house have managed to increase their wealth. The inequity has increased to the new height. The world’s richest 1% increased their wealth by 32%, during the pandemic. In India the richest 1% increased their wealth by 35%. Ordinary people lost jobs and their incomes. Working class has been challenging these attacks.

In our country, the last over one and half years has been a period of immense suffering and hardships for the workers and the people in general. On the one hand, they were victims of the pandemic, its deadly impact compounded by the criminal negligence of the Modi led BJP government in taking measures to save lives by strengthening public health infrastructure. On the other crores of workers and other sections of toiling people lost their jobs, incomes, shelters due to the lockdowns, curfews and restrictions associated with the pandemic. They were pushed into poverty, hunger and destitution. The Modi government refused to take the necessary measures to protect their livelihoods and ensure their food security. It obstinately declined cash transfer to put money in their pockets that would have helped in reviving the economy.

She has exhorted the leaders and activists to create awareness among the working class about the comprehensive project of the BJP government to push its corporate communal agenda. We have to make the working class understand that,to be successful, in its fight against the attacks on its rights and benefits has also to be equally comprehensive, directed against the neoliberal policies as well as communal divisive ideology of the ruling classes. The working class should be made conscious that its struggles on its day to day demands must be integrated with the comprehensive fight against the corporate communal agenda. It is in this context that CITU’s call of ‘unity’ of the working class and all toiling people, and ‘struggle’ – class struggle taking it to higher levels, assumes significance. 

The Inaugural session has ended with passing one important Resolution on extending working class support and solidarity with the heroic year long farmers’ struggle.

The General Council endorsed the two-days General Strike Call of Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions during the Budget Session of Parliament and appealed to the entire working people in general and CITU arffiliates and its members in particular to make the strike call grand success anti-worker, anti-people and anti-national policies of Modi regime.

Then in the plenary session CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen has presented the General Secretary Report in which we proposed to lauch the following movements

1. 26th November 2021: State level massive mobilisations on 26th November preceded by independent campaign for 10 days from 15-25 November.

The campaign to focus on NMP, labour codes, demands of migrant workers, unorganised sector workers, mainly minimum wages, job security, social security, price rise etc

In addition to the demands being raised by the joint trade union platform, CITU may also highlight major state level burning issues of the working class, if possible jointly, or in our independent campaign, like minimum wages etc.

CITU state committees are requested to take effective initiatives to ensure widest possible campaign linking the workers’ issues with the BJP government’s policies and exposing the politics of the ruling classes. We should try to prepare many different types of leaflets/ pamphlets etc each focussing on a specific issue, i.e. impact of NMP in each sector like roadways, railways, electricity, oil and gas pipelines etc, on price rise, on labour codes, etc. Specific targets should be fixed on the number of workers to be approached, sector and district wise, which should be well beyond the membership of CITU in the state

2. Preparations for the 2 days’ country wide joint general strike: In December 2021 and January 2022 we should concentrate on preparing the working class for the 2 days’ general strike during budget session, as decided by the joint national convention of trade unions. All CITU committees/ unions/ cadres up to the lowest level of our organisation should be involved in the preparations. 

The deliberations on the General Secretary will start in the post lunch session.

Issued By

Tapan Sen
General Secretary

CITU expresses its profound grief and condolences on the demise of the Shri. V. Subbaraman, President of Labour Progressive Front (LPF), one of the Central Trade Unions in our country. He was 76.

He hailed from telecom trade union movement as the leader of Telecom Employees Progressive Union (TEPU) since its formation. Later he became the President of LPF. Since then he along with LPF General Secretary Shri.P.Shanmugam, played a very constructive role in all national joint trade union initiates and movements.

The passing away of Shri.Subbaraman at a time when the trade union movement is intensifying its united struggles is a great loss to the Trade Union Movement in general and LPF in particular.

CITU shares the grief of LPF leaders and members and conveys its condolences to bereaved family members of Shri.V.Subbaraman.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) pays homage to comrade Pramila Pandhe one of the senior most leaders of the trade union movement and pioneers of the women's movement.
She passed away on 31 October 2021 at AIIMS, New Delhi due to post operative complications. She was 94.

Comrade Pramila started her political life in the independence movement in Maharashtra and had been jailed in participating in Quit India movement in 1942. She joined the communist party in 1948.

She was active in trade union movement and was one of the founding leaders of CITU in Delhi and led many struggles. She was the leader of National Seed Corporation Employees Union.

She was one of the founders of the All India Coordination Committee of Working Women.
She was also one of the founders of All India Democratic Women's Association and has been its National Vice President.

She was the life partner of Comrade M. K. Pandhe, one of pioneers of the trade union movement and former General Secretary and President of CITU.

Her contributions to the trade union movement as well as women's movement will always be remembered.  CITU pays homage to the departed leader and conveys its condolences to the family and comrades.

Issued by,
TAPAN SEN
General Secretary

Centre of Indian Trade Unions condemns the destructive exercise of the Govt to transfer the national assets and infrastructures in the hands of private corporate, both domestic and foreign, virtually free. Air India Sale is the most current example.

Now, as the Media reported, the Govt is making a hasty move for amending the Bank Nationalisation related Acts to facilitate privatization of public sector banks in the next Winter Session of Parliament.  Already the PSBs were made to sacrifice several crores of rupees (all public money) loaned out to those private corporates, through so called Insolvency Bankruptcy procedures. And now the move is on to hand over the PSBs to the same community of debt defaulter private corporates virtually free.

Further, it is reported that the Govt has been in the advanced stage of moving amendments to PFRDA Act 2013 to separate the National Pension System (NPS) Trust to liberate the same from all regulatory control and discipline of PFRDA and convert the same into a corporate or charitable entity under Companies Act. Even the pension savings of the people are not being spared from the nefarious project of satisfying lust for minting fortune through unregulated speculations by the private fund managers. Even the Employees’ Provident Fund Trust, which is under some regulatory control, lost a huge money  of workers EPF savings through such limited speculation, courtesy IL&FC and other private fund managers. The fate of the regulation-free NPS under the new project of the Govt can well be guessed in advance.

CITU denounces such nefarious and destructive project of facilitating loot and plunder on national assets, infrastructures and even peoples’ life-time pension savings by the same plunderers’ community in corporate class and calls upon the working people to oppose and resist such atrocious machinations on national economy and the people at large by the Govt at the centre.  

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) unequivocally condemns the Modi government’s anti-national decisions to hand over the national aircraft carrier - one of the Prides of India, the Air India (AI) to the private monopoly house - the Tata Group virtually free of cost, rather on negative payment to national exchequer. The Group of Ministers headed by the Home Minister Amit Shah has approved the deal by which 100% shareholding of Air India along with AI’s shareholding in Air India Express Ltd and AISATS would be transferred to the Talace Private Ltd, the so called special purpose vehicle of Tata Sons, an entity exclusively incorporated to this operations for paltry sum of Rs.18,000 crores.  Out of this Tata would own the debt liability for Rs.15,300 crores and the rest of Rs.2700 crores alone would be paid as cash to the Central government.

Since its takeover by Union Govt in 1948 followed by its nationalisation in 1953, several lakhs of crores was infused from national exchequer to expand its infrastructural asset base, huge fleet of aircrafts and properties, both within the country and abroad. During the last decade since 2009-10 till recently,  around Rs 1,10,000 crores have been infused in Air India by Govt comprising of Rs.58000 crores cash support and rest through Govt guarantee on credit.

Moreover, the sale-deal with Tata envisages that Govt will absorb the debt burden to the tune of Rs 46,262 crores out of the Rs.61,562 crores but the assets created by such debt would be handed over to Tata in lieu of only Rs 18000 crores. Besides this bonanza for Tata, as per this deal, the Air India will give Tata access to more than a hundred planes, thousands of trained pilots, crew and lucrative landing and parking slots all around the world. This is nothing but a free gift of our National Carrier to Tata. It has demonstrated the worst ever perverted economic deal of this fascistic political dispensation having organic nexus with corporate capital for frittering away national asset in favour of their corporate masters for song.

The fate of all the existing employees is still hanging in balance. Air India has 12,085 employees - 8,084 permanent and 4,001 contractual. In Air India Express around 1434 employees are working. The deals mention only one year retaining. Then rest of their service period would be at the mercy of Tata.

Though the attempts to privatize of our national carrier was initiated during the Vajpayee tenure itself, all successive central governments have also contributed to turn Air India into a loss making entity. As a part of their long drawn strategy of withdrawing government from all sorts of transport and communications and placing the same at the disposal of the crony capital, now this deal has been finalized. 

CITU, while denouncing all these reckless privatization spree of Modi government,  calls upon the working class  in general and its affiliated unions in particular to resist such anti-national activities of this government and expose their anti-national credentials and pseudo-nationalistic postures along with these right reactionaries’ nexus with corporate capital.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
(General Secretary)

The Centre of Trade Unions (CITU) stands in solidarity with the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in their protest against brutal police assault on AIKS Finance Secretary P. Krishnaprasad on Monday, 4 October, as he was addressing media during peaceful protest at Uttar Pradesh Bhavan in Delhi against killing of the farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.

CITU condemns this police action in Delhi against farmers’ national leader to suppress even peaceful protest and from bringing out facts before the media.

CITU calls upon the workers and trade union movement of the country to intensify their struggle against 3 black farm laws, 4 labour codes and all out privatisation drive; and against the ruling RSS-BJP for attacking, killing, maiming, threatening the farmers in fascistic way using the police force to suppress the right of democratic movement as enshrined in the Constitution of India.

(Tapan Sen)
General Secretary

CITU strongly condemns the most gruesome killings of farmers who were peacefully protesting at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.

The farmers were killed by the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs by deliberately running his vehicle over the farmers. It is also reported by eyewitnesses that he and his henchmen had also fired at the unarmed kisans.

In a shocking incident the Haryana CM has been caught on camera directing RSS/BJP activists to unleash physical attacks on the struggling kisans.

It seems that the ruling pro corporate government is hell-bent on to serve their Masters at any cost.

That's why instead of conceding the demands of repealing the Farm laws, this fascistic regime resorted to unleashing repressions. In the wake of upcoming State Assembly Elections in the largest state- Uttar Pradesh, where the "Defeat BJP Mission" announced by the kisan panchayat at Muzaffarnagar kisan rally that has already sent a shivering into the spine of Yogi & Co which led a desperate situation where RSS and its political platform- BJP is becoming restless. Thus they resorted to violence against farmers true to their fascist characters.

CITU calls upon the working class to come out in large numbers to condemn this dastardly killing and to express our class Solidarity with kisans. CITU dips its Red Flag to pay our respectful homage to all the kisan martyrs who were brutally killed yesterday in UP.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

Nearly one crore ‘Scheme Workers’ including the Anganwadi, ASHA and Mid Day Meal workers are delivering the basic services of nutrition and health to the majority of the people will go on one day strike tomorrow, 24 September 2021. The strike call is given by the Joint platform of Scheme Workers consisting of the organizations of scheme workers affiliated to the central trade unions – INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.

Thousands of anganwadi ASHA, mid day meal workers will strike work and mobilize at district/block headquarters. The Scheme workers through this strike are pressing for the immediate demands of safety at work, risk allowance and insurance cover during covid duty and long pending demands of regularization as workers, minimum wages, social security and pension and against privatization. The unions will submit memorandum with these demands addressed to the Prime Minister of India in at all centres. (A copy attached)

Not to mention about the 45^th ILC recommendations of regularization, minimum wages and pension to all scheme workers, more than ten lakh ASHA workers have shouldered the total responsibility of reaching out to the people to access the healthcare during the pandemic with a monthly remuneration of Rs.2000 and additional Rs.1000 per month for six months! Anganwadi workers are not even categorized as frontline warriors by the government while they were asked perform covid related health services and door to door delivery of nutrition! Mid day meal workers are put on duty in covid centres but not even paid their wages of Rs.1000 per month (for only ten months a year)! Modi government has cut down the budget for these schemes during the pandemic! The government has forced the workers to go for a strike as a warning.

The demands also include the basic rights of the people, especially the children – right to food/nutrition, health and education by strengthening and universalizing free and quality basic services. The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions as well as the Samyukta Kisan Morcha had expressed solidarity and support to the strike. We call upon the working people of the country to support the demands of the scheme workers.

We request all the print and visual media of the country to cover the strike as well as the issues and demands raised by it.

Issued by
A R Sindhu
For Joint Platform of Scheme Workers Federations

N B :- Mobilisations will be held in Delhi- NCR at districts
Contacts – Faridabad- 9999517717 (Nirantar Parashar) 9268682056(Sudha); 
Sonepat – 9466437696(Ananad Sharma), 8222066120(Sunita)

JOINT PLATFORM OF SCHEME WORKERS FEDERATIONS

INTUC                          AITUC                        HMS                          CITU

AIUTUC             TUCC                AICCTU                 LPF                UTUC

CITU expresses its deepest condolences on the demise of Com. S. Pancharatnam, former Working Committee Member of CITU and the State Office Bearer of Tamil Nadu CITU for quite long time. He was 82 years old. Since early 1970s, he had been associated with CITU in Tamil Nadu as an employee in the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and later as a leader of COTEE, the largest electricity employees Union affiliated to CITU in Tamil Nadu. He played a leading role as the General Secretary of COTEE in the protracted heroic struggle of contract labour in the state electricity utility and winning a case in the Supreme Court which paved the way to regularize more than 25,000 contract workers who were languishing for pittance in the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board for more than a decade.

CITU dips its banner in respect to Com. Pancharatnam and conveys its grief to the bereaved family members and our Comrades.

Long Live Comrade S. Pancharatnam!

Tapan Sen
General Secretary