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VOICE OF ELECTRICITY WORKERS
National Convention of Trade Unions on Right to Strike
26th September, 2003
The National Convention of Trade Unions being held in V.P. House Lawns, New
Delhi, on 26th September, 2003 expresses its deep concern on the recent
judgement of the Supreme Court on the Right to Strike, although referring to the
right to strike of the Government employees the judgement has its wider
implications for the general trade union movement of the country. Totally
departing from the earlier pronouncements the present stand of the Supreme Court
on the question of the Right to Strike is too ominous. The Convention calls upon
the working masses to move into action opposing the judgement.
Thsi Convention participated by the representatives of the cross section of the
working people of the country emphatically declares that judgement in question
is totally unacceptable. What Court has expressed in the judgement, in the
opinion of this Convention, is an infringement of the fundamentals of the
democratic system the country has built up over years. Right to Strike has not
been gifted to the working class by any Government or by any provision of the
Constitution, Conventionally over decades, it has become an integral part of
trade union movement, even considered to be inseparable from the process of the
collective bargaining, workers and employees who are subjected to terror and
exploitation take recourse to strike action as being the last resort only when
all the provided avenues fail to bring the remedy.
This is true not only in India, for the whole world. Nowhere the right to strike
has been allowed to be abrogated by the International Working Class movement. In
India too, the Convention declares, the right to strike shall not be allowed to
be struck down by anybody, not even by a judicial pronouncement. The Convention,
therefore, declares that the right to strike is sacrosanct and is not subject to
any judicial interpretation.
Coming in the wake of unprecedented attack on the working class, random lock
out, loss of job, more mandays lost due to arbitrary actions of the management
than the workers going on strike, indiscriminate privatisation, violation of
labour laws, gross underpayment, defalcation of provident fund deposits, the
attack on the right to strike causes alarm, and the national Convention of trade
unions decides to face the challenge firmly.
The Convention while taking into account the widespread opposition to the
judgement particularly the opinion expressed by the leading legal luminaries of
the country, including the present Attorney General calls upon the nation to
join the trade unions in opposing the judgement on strike.
The Convention also demands upon the Tamilandu Government to reinstate all
victimized employees forthwith, withdraw the order of derecognition of all Govt.
employees' unions, stop all repressive measures and initiate negotiation with
them for amicable settlement of their just demands.
The Convention demands upon the Central Government to take appropriate steps to
negate the pernicious impact of the judgement of Supreme Court on the right to
strike. The Convention declares that if the Central Govt. remains insensitive to
the demands of the entire trade union movement, there will be no other
alternative for the trade unions but to intensify the movement including going
on strike. The Convention calls upon the working class to get prepared
accordingly.
In a grim situation, as the country is passing through, the Convention urges
upon the trade unions of all shades, colour and affiliations, to unite and
actively participate in a massive programme of building up mass awareness of the
danger posed by the judgement by holding State and local Conventions, organizing
Padyatras, rallies and demonstrations and Dharnas, during the next two months,
to be completed by the end of December, 2003.
While having multiple forms of campaign, there is a need for publishing
materials including handbills, posters, explaining the issue to the people.
The Convention decides to organize demonstrations throughout the country
including having a rally in Delhi to step-up our campaign against the move to
strike down right to strike.
On the second day when the Parliament assembles for the next budget session, the
Convention calls upon the working force of the entire Nation to observe National
Protest Day, including having country wide general strike to be decided by the
Central Trade Unions collectively.
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