AICCTU’s Nationwide Campaign
The Nationwide campaign undertaken by AICCTU was flagged off on 9 August in most states. Some of highlights of the campaign until we go to press (21 August) are below.
In Bihar the AICCTU and Bihar State Non-Gazetted Employees Confederation (Gope faction) have jointly undertaken this campaign. The campaign was flagged off with a joint rally of workers and employees on 9 August in Patna. The rally reached R-Block where it merged with the 48-hour long hunger strike and mass dharna organised by CPI(ML). On 8 August, a state-level cadre convention was organised at MLA Club in Patna to discuss and chart out ways to take the campaign to maximum number of workers and employees of Bihar. More than 150 delegates from 25 districts of Bihar participated in the Convention.
The campaign in Jharkhand was flagged off with a district Convention of AICCTU in Bokaro, incaugurated by AICCTU State Secretary Comrade Shubhendu Sen, and conducted by AICCTU State President Devdeep Singh Divakar. A 11-member district committee was elected at the end of the Convention. Plans for the August campaign were enthusiastically made.
In Delhi street corner meetings were held at Kalkaji on 18 August and a dharna at the Deputy Labour Commissioner’s office on 21 August.
In Tamilnadu, a ‘Meet the People’ Campaign was undertaken. In Namakkal Dist, demonstrations were held on August 9 in 3 points and over 250 workers participated in these. Demands such as Rs.7000 minimum wages, 50 kg rice for Re 1 per kilo for a month in PDS, and housing for power loom workers are some of the demands raised in these demonstrations. In Salem, a cadre meeting of AICCTU was held on August 9. In Kanyakumari district, a cadre meeting was held on August 9. Since then street corner meetings have been held at over 10 points and more street corner meetings are to be held in the coming days. In Tirunelveli, on August 9, a cadre meeting was held. It was planned to organize street corner meetings and door to door campaign in 8 points among beedi and unorganized workers. On 18 August, a demonstration of tailoring workers was held demanding minimum wages and other statutory benefits, in which more than 70 workers took part. In Coimbatore, a cadre meeting was held and it was planned to hold street corner meetings. On 23 August a hall meeting of unorganized workers of Workers’ Rights Forum will be held. In Chennai, street corner meetings are planned and door to door campaign is being held in our work areas on day to day basis. The Campaign is concentrated on demands such as amendments to the Trade Union Recognition Act, President’s Assent for the Standing Orders Amendment Act to protect the interests of trainees, 5 cent homestead patta for the unorganized workers, and Rs.7000 national floor level minimum wages for all the workers. At Karnataka, campaign yatras were held on 10, 11, and 12 August in three different parts of the H D Kote taluk, in more than 60 villages. The campaign culminated in a militant rally on 20 August in front of Tahsildar’s office, which raised issues related to construction workers and also of agricultural labourers that include expansion of NREGA (200 days of work, Rs 200 minimum wage), land issues, exclusion of the poor from BPL lists, and basic amenities, etc. More than 200 people including 150 women participated in this spirited demonstration which gheraoed the taluk panchayat office.