No.
P3NFPE-Odisha/03 - 10/2019
Dated at
Bhubaneswar the 29th October, 2019
To
All
Circle Union Office bearers
AIPEU,
Gr-C, Odisha Circle
Sub: Programme of action by NFPE,
Odisha State CoC in connection with Nationwide Strike on 08.01.2020
Dear Comrades,
Please
find attached here with NFPE Odisha State CoC Circular No.
NFPE – ODI / 05 / 2019, dated 29.10.2019 on the above subject which is self-explanatory.
It has been decided to conduct a joint
meeting of all the Circle Secretaries and Circle Union Office bearers of all
NFPE Unions in Odisha Circle in the PRC, Bhubaneswar GPO on 10.11.2019 at 10 AM
to decide the future programme of actions to be undertaken in Odisha Circle to
make the forthcoming one day strike on 08.01.2020 successful.
Therefore,
all elected Circle Union office bearers are requested to make it convenient to
attend the above meeting as scheduled.
With struggle greetings.
Comradely
yours,
(Bruhaspati Samal)
Circle Secretary
Copy for kind information to all Divisional
Secretaries of AIPEU, Gr-C, Odisha Circle.
No. NFPE – ODI / 05 / 2019
Dated at Bhubaneswar the 29th
October, 2019
To
All
Circle Secretaries
NFPE
Odisha State Coordination Committee
Sub:-Programme of action by NFPE, Odisha
State CoC in connection with Nationwide Strike on 08.01.2020
Dear
Comrades,
A
copy of the declaration made in the National Open Convention of Workers held in
New Delhi on 30.09.2019 along with the programme of action during next three
months culminating to one day strike on 8th January, 2020 is
attached here with which is self-explanatory.
In
this context, as the first phase programme, it has been decided to conduct a
joint meeting of all the Circle Secretaries and Circle Union Office bearers of
all NFPE Unions in Odisha Circle in the PRC, Bhubaneswar GPO on 10.11.2019 at
10 AM to decide the future programme of actions to be undertaken in Odisha
Circle to make the forthcoming one day strike on 08.01.2020 successful.
Therefore,
it is sincerely requested to motivate all your elected office bearers for
effective participation in the above meeting. Though the number of participants
from each union/association is expected to be 15, yet, all the Circle
Secretaries are requested to intimate the actual number of participants latest
by 07.11.2019 so that we can make lunch arrangement on the day.
Expecting
your whole-hearted cooperation.
With
struggle greetings.
Comradely
yours,
(Bruhaspati Samal)
Chairman
NFPE
Odisha State CoC
30th September 2019, Parliament Street,
New Delhi
DECLARATION
The Modi-led BJP Government has
completed its 100 days of its second term in Office. And the country and her
people are facing a continuing economic slowdown, continuing job-losses,
sky-rocketing unemployment, widening and deepening impoverishment, faster
decline in average level of earnings, reckless privatisation and foreignisation
of national productive assets, destruction of indigenous manufacturing
capabilities leading to deindustrialization and abnormal rise of economic
inequality in the society to an obscene level- mocking at the slogan of “sabka
sath sabka vikash”. Now, with a greater arrogance, the same destructive
economic policies targeting the democratic rights and livelihood of the mass of
the people are being pursued, setting in motion further worsening of the
situation. And more undemocratically than ever before – be it the
passing of Wage Code Bill, introduction of Code on Occupational Health, Safety
and Working Conditions, amendment to the RTI Act to cripple it, amendment to
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to make it even more draconian and vindictive,
abrogation of Article 370 without consulting people of J & K, in fact by
gagging them, or rendering lakhs of people homeless/ stateless through the NRC
process. Now many BJP ruled states have been advocating for NRC process to
divide people on communal lines. This ongoing destructive process must be
combated for the unity of the people.
Each and every demand in the 12-point
charter, of the Central Trade Unions, independent federations and associations,
supported by the Joint National Forums of Peasants’ Organizations and
highlighted through various agitations with a continuity such as nation-wide
strikes on 2nd September 2015 2nd September 2016, the three day
Maha-padav, on 9--11th Nov, 2017 before the Parliament, the Nationwide
strike by Scheme Workers on 17th January 2018, Satyagrah and protests in almost
all the states on varying dates beginning from 23rd January to 23rd February
2018 and the two-days’ strike on 8-9 January, 2019, adoption of ‘Workers’
Charter’ in a joint national convention of trade unions on 5th March on the eve
of the general elections, have simply been ignored by the BJP Government. The
budget presented on 5th July was out and out pro-corporate and anti-common
people. The Government has announced its intention to introduce the remaining
two Codes: Code on Social Security and the Code on Industrial Relations, all
together aiming at imposing conditions of extreme exploitation of the working
people.
The Central Govt. not only failed to
respond to the genuine demands of the working people, but continued its brazen
aggression against the rights of workers, in the interest of their Corporate
masters. Bipartism and tripartism is given a go-by. Labour laws are being
sought to be overhauled in favour of the employers’ class. The BJP Govt.
continues to vindictively deprive the biggest Central Trade Union in the
country, the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) from all
representations. No Indian Labour Conference has been held after July, 2015.
Pre-budget consultations have become a shame.
Continuing phenomenon of alarmingly
increasing unemployment along with joblosses across the sectors, declining GDP
rates, increasing gap between the rich and the poor- all revealing a terminal
slowdown in the national economy are sought to be brushed under the
carpet by fudging figures. The phenomenon of closure and shut-down of
automobile industries and the ancillaries and the forecast of huge job-losses
including in the IT sector is adding fuel to the fire. Price-rise of essential
commodities including public transport, electricity, medicines etc is mounting
miseries on daily lives of the people in general, both in urban and rural
areas, leading to widening as well as deepening impoverishment. Drastic cut in
Government expenditure in social sector and various welfare schemes has made
the conditions of workers, particularly those in unorganized sector more
precarious.
The anti-labour authoritarian
character of the Government is all the more evident in their refusal to
implement even the consensus recommendations (in which the Government was also
a party) of the successive Indian Labour Conferences in respect of equal pay
and benefits for equal work for the contract workers, formulation of minimum
wage and workers status for the scheme workers viz., Anganwadi, Mid-Day-Meal
and ASHA etc. have not been implemented. Shockingly, the Labour Minister in the
Modi Government contradicted their own Committee’s recommendation on National
Minimum Wage (which in itself was in contravention of the recommendations of
the 15th ILC) by declaring a ridiculous figure of Rs.4628/-pm instead !
Replacing gradually the workers by apprentices through NEEM, Fixed Term
Employment etc, to grossly alter the employment-relations towards slavery,
amendments in Prevention of Child Labour Act to allow employment of Child
Labour, reduction in ESI contributions and the move for pro-employer Amendment
of EPF&MP Act, including attempts to corporatize the EPFO and the ESIC--
all such anti-worker steps are justified as incentives to employers for ease of
doing their business at the cost of workers. The Government stubbornly refuses
to implement the recent Judgments of the Supreme Court on issue of “equal wage
and benefits for same work” and on EPS, 1995 on contribution and calculation of
pension on actual pay and dearness allowance. On the other hand, the Government
is misusing the tax-payers money to incentivise the defaulting employers to
implement laws such as the Maternity Benefit Act and the EPF Act.
Another assault has come through the
move for amendment of the Trade Union Act 1926. The Government intends to
change the definition of the Central Trade Unions and their recognition
procedure as per discretion of the executive. The mala fide intention
is also to have Govt. interference into the functioning and internal matters of
trade unions.
Aggressive move for Privatization of
even all the strategic PSUs and government sector through different routes,
including Defense Production, Public Sector Banks and Insurance and also Railways,
public road transport, Ports, coal, power, steel, Petroleum etc through
disinvestment, strategic sale, outsourcing in favour of private sector,
promoting 100 per cent FDI in defense, railways, coal, and many vital,
strategic sectors is increasing day by day. Deliberate and vindictive weakening
of Air India, BSNL, MTNL, not allowing them level playing field, is being
carried on with a destructive zeal in total disregard to the human sufferings
(no salaries for months together). Plundering and looting the RBI reserves to
contain budget deficit caused by tax concessions to the Corporates is going to
destabilize our economy further. Defence Sector privatization move is actually
designed to destroy the indigenous Research initiatives and manufacturing capability,
-demonstrating a betrayal of national interests. The dubious game plan to
outsource more than 50 per cent products including weapons and critical
equipments, being produced by the Ordinance establishments is finally followed
up by move to corporatizing the Ordnance Factories to facilitate complete
privatization. Complete privatization of the Railways, step by step, is
going on. Operating private trains on the existing tracks built by Railways and
free access of railway yards/workshops/sheds for private players is being
permitted. Railway Printing Presses are being closed. Railway production units
are being corporatized to facilitate privatization. Besides the railway
employees becoming the worst victims, mass of the common people will suffer more
owing to inevitable hike of railway fares and increase in freight charges owing
to elimination of subsidies in passenger fares and freight on essential
commodities.
The Government has announced another
round of merger of 10 Public Sector Banks into four despite negative impact of
previous rounds of merger, on banking services and employment. The reasons
being offered for merger are utterly false and deceptive. The lowering of
interest rate on deposits of common people will make them suffer, particularly
the senior citizens who depend on it in absence of any meaningful pension. The
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) procedure legitimizes the loot of
the bank money by the defaulting corporate besides neglecting the dues of the
workers of the bankrupt companies. In addition to all these the Government is
entering into free trade agreements with different countries and group of
countries like Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which is
detrimental to our economic sovereignty.
The plight of the unorganized sector
workers is even worse, as they bear the brunt of the ongoing economic slowdown
despite their sizable contribution to GDP. Their number will swell as the
workers lose employment in formal sectors. Construction workers, beedi workers,
street vendors, domestic workers, loading/unloading workers had separate
laws/welfare boards. Instead of making them functional, they are sought to be
abolished through social security code exercise. The Government has made a
cruel joke on them promising first pension under PMSYPY of Rs.3000/-pm in the
year 2039 ! It is even forcing this so-called voluntary scheme on the
scheme workers. The government employees are demanding scrapping of NPS and
restoration of the old Pension Scheme. Sections such as home based
workers, waste recyclers, salt workers have no legal protection whatsoever.
But the workers have not accepted
these measures meekly, as shown by the surge of struggles all around. Workers
of 41 ordnance factories across the country went on total strike from 20th
August for a month against the corporatisation move forcing the Govt to step
back for the time being just after five days of the complete historic
strike. The Government’s plan to corporatize seven Railway production
units was immediately responded to by protest actions by the mass of the
workers and their family members. The bank merger news was denounced by
nation-wide protest demonstrations of bank employees and officers. Now, strike
action is being planned in the banking sector. The coal workers have
staged a massive strike action on 24th September, 2019 against allowing 100%
FDI in coal sector. There have been agitations in various CPSUs,
including the core and strategic sectors like Energy, Petroleum, Telecom,
Metal, Steel, Mining, Machine Building, Road, Air and Water Transport, Port
& Dock against the government plans to privatise them. The Convention
extends full support to these struggles.
The Convention notes with dismay that
this Government, spinelessly surrendered to threat and pressure of their
private corporate masters, indigenous and foreign, by shamelessly withdrawing
the measures for making the shortfall in CSR spending by private corporates a
criminal offence and also withdrawing the surcharge on speculative profits of foreign
portfolio investors. Shri Modi had to placate them in his 15th August
speech, saying they are the “wealth creators” and cannot be viewed with
suspicion. This is over and above the budget announcement of the huge sop of
reducing the income tax rate by 5% for the 99.3% of the corporates. Now in the
name of addressing the economic slowdown, the Finance Minister has further
announced cutting back taxes on corporate from 30% to 22% whereas the workers
and employees have to pay the same 30% income tax. The stimulus package
to the tune of Rs.1.4 lakh crores, a bonanza to the corporates, does not
increase the purchasing power of the working people, does not create any jobs
or even does not ensure job security to the workers being retrenched every day,
will further aggravate the recession.
Now the BJP Government is facing a
backlash from the common people as the draconian measures of the newly passed
Motor Vehicle Act are put in practice. The federations of transport workers had
repeatedly warned against these measures during the last five years of BJP
Government, through various mass actions.
Now that the euphoria of a
phenomenal win in the elections is fading, jingoist claims on abrogation of
Article 370 and 35 A recede, NRC turns out to be a hoax, the people are waking
up to the bitter truth of a failing economy – caused entirely by the
Pro-employer, anti-worker, anti-people and utterly destructive
anti-national policies of this BJP Government. Relentless crisis in jobs and
bread cannot be camouflaged by any amount of rhetoric.
This National Convention of Workers
appeals to all the workers, irrespective of their affiliations, to join hands
and co-ordinate their sectoral struggles into a mighty countrywide movement to
force the government to reverse their anti-national policies. Let us send a
clear message to the powers that be, that WE ARE THE WEALTH CREATORS. The
wealth that we create is being looted by the corporates in connivance with the
government that has caused suppressing of effective demand and consequent
economic slowdown. We demand equitable redistribution of the wealth that we
create. We want National Minimum Wage of Rs.21000/- pm (as per the current Cost
of Living Index), Rs.10000/-pm minimum pension for all by Government funding,
we want effective Employment Guarantee Act to cover all rural and urban
households, implementation of MGNREGA with increased number of days and budget
allocation, increased public investment to mitigate rural distress,
remunerative price as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations for the
agriculture produce with procurement facilities and loan waiver of the
peasantry, we want permanency of employment in decent work, we want Worker
status for all Scheme Workers as unanimously recommended by the ILC, abolition
of contract system and regularisation of contract workers, equal pay and
benefits for equal work and implementation of Sustainable Development
Goals.
This National Convention of Workers
records its strong denunciation of the Communal forces which are cultivating an
atmosphere of conflicts within the society on non-issues, giving an opportunity
to the government to deflect the attention of the masses from core issues of
unemployment, run away price rise etc. They are seeking to disrupt the unity of
the workers and the toiling people in general, so vital to carry forward the
ongoing struggles based on our 12-point Charter of Demands. Working class must
raise their strong voice of protest against these divisive forces which are
threatening the very social fabric of our society and endangering the basic
ethos and core values of Indian Constitution.
The task before the Joint Platform of
Central Trade Unions and independent National Federations and Associations is
to further intensify the surging struggles in various sectors through a
concerted united agitation and mobilization for action. The National Mass
Convention of Workers calls for a countrywide general strike action as a
consolidation of all sectoral struggles. This Convention therefore adopts,
inter alia, the following programmes for mobilisation of workers for the grand
success of the strike:
PROGRAMME OF ACTION OVER THE NEXT
THREE MONTHS:
1. Joint
Conventions of Workers at Sectoral Level, at State Level, at District Level
during two months of October and November, 2019
2. Widest
possible circulation of Declaration down to factory, establishment, institution
and base level through the above activity during December, 2019
3. Country-wide
General Strike On 8th January, 2020
The
National Convention calls upon working people across the sectors and throughout
the country irrespective of affiliations to make the strike action a grand
success and further appeals to prepare for bigger actions if the government
fails to pay heed to our demands. We call upon the people at large to
support the strike action.
INTUC
AITUC
HMS CITU
AIUTUC
TUCC SEWA AICCTU LPF UTUC
And Independent Federations, Associations and Unions of Workers
and Employees.
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