July 2006 - December 2006 Index

National Convention of workers- 2006 July 25 - Declaration

This National Convention of Workers, held in Delhi on 25^th July 2006 with massive representation from the constituents of the Sponsoring Committee of Trade Unions, Industrial Federations and independent unions, adopts this Declaration after seriously deliberating on the conditions of the workers in the country and the challenges confronting the workers and toiling people in general.

The UPA Government, in office for over two years now, has been persisting with the neo liberal economic agenda of the erstwhile NDA government, heaping unbearable burdens on the people, while favouring the rich. It is bent upon carrying forward the so-called 'reform' process, unmindful of its devastating impact on the working people. This has led to serious resentment among the common people and the working masses of our country.

The prices of all the essential commodities have skyrocketed creating enormous difficulties to the poor and common people; the government is planning to hike the issue price of food grains under the PDS, besides cutting down the allocations; it has failed to speed up the procurement programme in time and has allowed the private traders and MNCs to buy and hoard food grains; now it is importing large quantities of wheat at high prices. The PDS is virtually dismantled in the name of targeting. The cascading effect of the hike in petrol and diesel prices for the fifth time, ignoring the genuine and practical demand to recast their tax structure, is already visible in the rising prices of all the items of daily consumption including pulses, vegetables, etc.

The vigourous pursuit of neo-liberal policies in the case of agriculture has resulted in a serious distress situation in rural India. Debt, poverty and misery, starvation deaths and suicides are increasing alarmingly, reflecting the severe rural distress. Peasants are burdened with high cost of inputs, unremunerative prices for their produce, failure to improve irrigation and flood control measures, non-availability of institutional credit and flawed procurement policies. Thousands of peasants continue to commit suicides, in different parts of the country.

Land reforms, which would ameliorate this rural distress, are not on the agenda of the government. Instead, contract farming and corporatisation including allowing 100% FDI in agriculture are being pursued. Public investment in agriculture and irrigation continues to be low and institutional credit is out of bounds for the vast majority of the poor and middle peasants. Even public utilities such as drinking water are being handed over to profit hungry corporates, both domestic and foreign.

The number of workdays available in a year for agricultural workers has come down drastically. Rural artisans including the handloom workers are losing their jobs and are forced to starve. Out-migration from villages is rapidly on the increase.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the only positive legislation brought in by the present government, is yet to take off in several states; there are several grey areas concerning its proper implementation, which need to be addressed.

Unemployment and underemployment are posing serious threats to the country. The economic growth under the neo liberal model, that is being flaunted, has failed to provide jobs to our youth; rather it has been a 'job loss growth'. The ban on recruitment in government jobs continues. The employment guarantee legislation needs to be extended to the urban areas to cover the entire country.

The government is yet to take any initiative on its own assurance to bring a separate comprehensive legislation for protecting the interests of the agricultural workers. Though the government has circulated several drafts of the Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill, it has not shown the necessary keenness to incorporate the unanimous suggestions of the Central Trade Unions and finalise the Bill for introduction in the Parliament.

Despite its own commitment towards a 'strong and effective public sector' and not to privatise profit making public sector units (PSUs), the government is relentlessly pursuing privatisation and disinvestment of the PSUs, including the profit making and strategic sector PSUs like nationalised banks, insurance, telecom, airports, government departments and undertakings etc; coal, oil and mineral blocks are being handed over to private vested interests; defence production is opened up to private and even foreign capital throwing to winds our national interests; the decision to allow 100 per cent FDI in retail trade threatens the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of small vendors and traders. The government has taken no tangible steps to revive the sick/ loss making but potentially viable PSUs.

The government policies have led to a proliferation of all round industrial sickness, engulfing scores of large, medium and small units, which are either closed or remain inoperative, pushing a huge number of workers and their families to destitution. The government is indifferent to the pressing need for taking measures for revival and rehabilitation of these sick units.

The government has given a go by to its professed commitment to 'actively pursue tripartite consultations with trade unions and industry on all proposals concerning them' and is taking decisions, which have serious repercussions on the workers, without any consultations with the trade unions.

The Prime Minister himself has chosen to fault the labour laws of the country of rigidity and flagged off an exercise for making them 'flexible', a euphemism for ushering in 'hire and fire' regime. The government has callously reneged on a solemn assurance on the floor of the Parliament to rescind the notification introducing a new category of 'fixed term workman. Several bills have been introduced in Parliament with provisions to curtail the existing rights of workers and freeing the employers from the obligations specified under existing laws.

There has been a proliferation of contract employment, resulting in worst exploitation of the workforce. Outsourcing and downsizing of workforce has become a routine practice in all sectors, including the financial sector and government departments. Besides increasing the workload on the existing workers and leading to worse labour practices, this is posing a serious threat to the industry itself. Contracting, sub contracting and outsourcing of work has reached dangerous proportions threatening the job security of the workers. Contract workers are being appointed even in perennial jobs. The number of contractor workers, even in many PSUs, surpasses the number of permanent workers. The government itself resorts to the usage of such nomenclature as 'social workers', 'community workers', 'volunteers' etc to deny the workers their due rights.

There is a rampant violation of labour laws, as the employers trample all provisions thereof blatantly. Attacks of police and the employers' hoodlums working in tandem to suppress workers' rights are alarmingly increasing across the country. Enforcement machinery under the existing labour laws is in a state of total collapse. In the name of dismantling the 'inspector raj' the government is shirking from its responsibility of implementing the labour laws. A labour-laws free atmosphere is sought to be created in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Special Economic Zones (SEZ), Manufacturing Investment Regions (MIRs) and 100 per cent Export Oriented Units (EOUs) anywhere in the country. Women workers are denied equal wages, maternity benefits, and other statutory benefits. The government has not yet enacted a law against sexual harassment at workplace.

The judiciary – from the apex level downwards – is passing verdicts one after another favouring the employer class and placing fetters on the working class even in matters of exercising their democratic rights. The government is sitting silent despite repeated pleas of the trade unions to step in and legislate to remove the pernicious impact of such anti-worker judgments. It has not taken any measure to ensure the right to strike of the workers and the government employees in particular, in the wake of the August 2004 verdict of the apex court.

The senior citizens and the common workers are hard hit by the drastic cut in the interest rates on EPF, GPF, CMPF, PPF and small savings. Further reduction in the interest rate on EPF is being contemplated. Attempts are on to reduce the benefit package under the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995. The government is adamantly insisting on enacting the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act to enable privatisation of pension funds and channeling them to the share market.

The government has arbitrarily released a new series of Consumer Price Index for the Industrial workers with the base year 2001 = 100, brazenly ignoring the unanimous opposition of all the Central Trade Unions. This is aimed at artificially deflating the price indices leading to severe cut backs in the DA entitlements of crores of workers.

While lack of financial resources is the common refrain to counter the genuine demands of the working people and others, the government is ever ready to extend tax concessions and holidays to the rich on the pretext of 'attracting investment'. It has not shown the necessary political will to take to task the rich indulging in tax defaults, amassing black money, defaults to banks and other financial institutions. In the name of widening the tax net, the government is again targeting the salaried employees, leaving the rich aside. The Kelkar Committee report, which has outlined nefarious prescriptions in this regard, must be scrapped.

The working class has many more things to despair. The working people and the other toiling sections of the country cannot allow this drift any longer. The UPA government has not acted on any of the promises they held out to the working masses; rather, the steps so far taken have been adverse to the interest of the working people. The character of the UPA regime is evidently anti-labour.

This National Convention of Workers, therefore demands the government to immediately change the direction of its economic policies and take urgent action on the following demands of the working people and other common masses of the country:

1. Take firm and swift measures to check price rise. Strengthen the PDS.

2. Immediately introduce the comprehensive legislation for the Unorganised Sector Workers incorporating the unanimous suggestions of the Trade Unions. Simultaneously bring in a separate comprehensive legislation for the Agricultural workers.

3. Immediately enact the Urban Employment Guarantee Bill to cover the urban unemployed.

4. Remove ban on recruitment. Stop downsizing of workforce.

5. Stop contratorisation and outsourcing of jobs.

6. Strengthen the enforcement machinery to ensure implementation of all labour laws, including statutory minimum wages, equal wages, maternity benefits etc.

7. Immediately enact legislation against sexual harassment at work place. Ensure full protection for women against atrocities.

8. Stop privatisation and disinvestment of profit making and strategic PSUs including nationalised banks, telecom, airports etc; stop merger of banks; no privatisation /corporatisation of defence production units and port & dock. Take urgent measures for the revival of all sick/ loss making but potentially viable PSUs. No privatisation of public services and utilities. Stop commercialisation of education. Increase allocation of funds for education & health.

9. Stop measures to raise FDI in telecom sector; No FDI in defence sector; No raise in the FDI cap in banking and insurance sectors; No FDI in coal, retail and pension sectors.

10. Withdraw the amendment bill to the Banking Regulation Act.

11. Review the Electricity Act of 2003 and the National Electricity Policy of 2005.

12. Immediate measures to ensure right to strike for the workers and employees including government employees.

13. Carry out extensive land reforms and step up public investment in agriculture and irrigation facilities.

14. Take stringent action for recovering NPAs and unpaid tax arrears from the defaulters in the corporate and big business lobby.

15. Annul the drastic cuts in the interest rate on EPF, GPF, CMPF, PPF and small savings. Scrap the New Pension System. Withdraw the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill.

16. Scrap the new series of Consumer Price Index (2001 = 100) and set up an index review committee.

This National Convention of Workers calls upon the workers, irrespective of their affiliations to unitedly carry out the following countrywide action programme to press for the realisation of the above demands:

ACTION PROGRAMME

16 August to 15 September 2006: Holding of Conventions at State & Sectoral levels

20 September 2006: National Day for Mobilisation for General Strike

(Holding Demonstrations, Rallies etc.)

29 November 2006: Strike Notice to be served jointly by all unions in respective establishments

14 December 2006: ALL INDIA GENERAL STRIKE


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