All India General Strike: Assertion for Economic and Democratic Equality

Newsclick interviewed A.K.Padmanabhan, All India President of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on the upcoming All India General Strike on September 2 announced by 11 central trade unions.  Padmanabhan said that the strike is not a secluded incident but a by-product of a long campaign against the neo-liberal policies imposed in 1991. He said the upcoming strike would be the sixth time when 11 major central trade unions have come together on a common platform. Explaining the charter of demands, Padmanabhan said the trade unions have put forward 12 demands to the central government this time, in comparison to the 10 demands they had put forth during the last strike (2013). The reason for the addition of two extra demands is the pro-corporate policy adopted by the incumbent BJP government

Rough Transcript:

Pranjal: Hello and welcome to our programme. The major central trade unions have announced 'All India General Strike' on 2nd September against the anti-worker policy of the incumbent Modi government. To discuss the issue with us we have A.K. Padmanabhaman who is All India President of Centre of India Trade Unions (CITU). Hello Sir.

AKP: Hi.

Pranjal: The major central trade unions from different spectrum of politics are be it right, be it left are coming together to announce the the general strike. So what's the reason behind this general strike which the trade unions have announced.

AKP: First of all I would like to add first, in India this is not the first time that all the central trade unions are coming together. Actually, the neo-liberal policies in the country which has been implemented from the year 1991. From that year itself a sort of a united movement of the trade unions have been happening in this country. In that matter, in November 1991 that was the first countrywide strike after the implementation of the neo-liberal policies by the Narasimha Rao government. At that time all the trade unions were together on a common platform and after 1991, the strike on 2nd September will be the sixteenth national level general strike.

So the previous governments, UPA-II at that time in 2009 it started and in 2010, 2012, 2013 there were three countrywide strikes and most importantly, for the first time in India last strike, the fifteenth in the series or the third after 2009 was for a 48 hour strike  20th and 21st February 2013. After one year of this government, again we are in the street. Not that immediately we are in the street, we have been, this is a sort of a continuation of what was going on from 2009 onwards, because the total unity, eleven central trade unions, all the eleven are together and not only that, there are independent national level federations of various employees organizations. Which are not affiliated to the central trade unions and some of them are bigger than some of the central trade unions themselves. So today this new government after the last general elections we have reached a stage now we have to fight back and there are enough reasons for that.

Pranjal: So can you tell about those reasons. What are the reasons and why you are?

AKP: See, in 2009 for example, we had general policy issues. We took up five issues and by 2010 we formulated a ten point of charter of demands and now we have a twelve point charter. This ten point charter of demands, that is the basic issue. It is not confined to any section of workers. It is an issue connected with the government policies and some basic issues of the workers. Both in the unorganised sector, organised sector and something which no other country other than India will understand. There are sections of one crore workers who are scheme workers, who are working for the government of India and they are not treated as workers. They are treated as volunteers with honorarium like that. One crore workers in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) or the Mid Day Meal schemes in the schools or the rural health mission workers who are known as ASHAS and USHAS. I think when we raise these issues in the international platforms people do not understand what actually it means. When they are working they are workers. The first issue in the ten point charter says control the increase in prices and when we are demanding universal public distribution system. This is a very important demand of the whole people of the country and I can tell you, even the previous government had to concede that the charter of demands presented by the workers. This was after our two days strike and Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister at that time and inaugurating 45th Indian Labour Conference had to concede that the charter of demands presented by the workers are unexceptionable demands and those demands are not only of workers but of the larger sections of the people. These are the types of issues, one is on prices, the other is on creation of employment. Then there are issues of minimum wages. Here in India, we don't have a minimum wage calculation. There is no scientific basis. Not that we did not think about it. In 1957, in the fifteenth India Labour Conference, when our first Prime Minister was in power Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, in that conference, in the fifteenth Indian Labour Conference, there was a unanimous decision, how the minimum wages should be calculated. On the basis of calorie requirements of a worker and his micro family and more than that up till 1991, the biggest attack against the working people and the trade unions are their right to form an organisation. So we are not able to have a union. The employers, the Indian corporates as well as the multi-national companies that are coming into India they don't want the worker to organise and unfortunately, the so called largest democracy in the world, the governments here whether it is at the centre and various states also they don't want the workers to be unionized. This fundamental right of the workers get organised for that we have to conduct struggle, we have to get victimized, we have to face police brutalities, our workers are put in jails and this is one of the demand. Ensure that the trade unions are registered once they make an application with 45 days. There are international conventions. ILO has a convention number 87. 87 says about the right to organise. Another convention which is actually part of that is convention 98. It talks about collective bargaining but India, that five core conventions, which ILO declared as core conventions, these basic two conventions have not been ratified with the government of India and this government has made us to add two things to that because of this one year experience. What is that? The eleven says, we have a demand proper implementation of labour laws. Now, the eleventh demand start diluting the existing labour laws, the so called reforms  and the twelfth one is FDI hundred percent in railways. 76 percent,  49 in insurance and areas. So stop this unnecessary FDI in various sectors.

Pranjal: I would like to come to the eleventh point which you have mentioned that the current government has been diluting the labour laws which are existing in the country. So how are they diluting these laws?

AKP: I can give you one or two very important examples. See the trade union act of this country is dated 1926. from 1920 onwards, a central trade union has been formed. 1918 onwards the official record says, the first formal trade union. But, even before that in the earlies, 1903, 1904, there were worker struggles. The right to trade union started with that. The trade union act today says after so many amendments and all that, for registration of trade union that union should have at least ten percent of workers or hundred, which ever is lower. But for the registration of a trade union the number of applicants to register a trade union is restricted to seven. Here, the new law now says, the bill what it says is ten percent or hundred whichever is lower. So in some factories 2000 workers are there you should have hundred applicants to register a trade union. Now, what is our experience? Once we submit an application with seven people, the moment we have experiences, in Maruti, in Hyundai, in Volvo, multinational companies and many Indian companies have been following that. The moment that application is reaching the registrar of trade unions, the labour department, the information reaches them and suddenly you will find people getting transferred. This can not happen in any other developed country or in a developing country. Now, if you want to have hundred people, out of it one goes down, the whole process you have to restart. Back to square one. So this change, there is no reason other than to create a situation of union free and then comes, you somehow you register a union then see a trade union without the right to strike is a useless weapon. Not that every day the worker goes on strike, he can't, he can't afford to do that. But at that same time, if you doesn't have that right then the trade unions are disarmed. Now the rule says, not only in essential services already it exists in the essential service here. Now, every trade union once you decide to go on strike a strike notice is served to the employer and to the government labour department from that moment the conciliation proceedings on that starts and when the conciliation proceedings start you can not go on strike and if you violate that, then now comes all punishments. Fifty Thousand Rupees fine, you will be jailed. All these things were there in the British period when trade union laws were not actually enacted. We are reaching a stage actually back to not only back to square one it is minus square. We are reaching just.. and what for  this government doing this? You see we are a democratic country, a country where 'Shramev Jayate' is a slogan (Victory to Labour) is the slogan and our Prime Minister on the independence day spoke about dignity of labour and what is this? Our constitutional rights, our dignity, our status as workers, right to fight, these all are our fundamental rights not given by anyone. The Indian trade unions has a history of struggles of more than hundred and twenty years and all these have been gained. This is one example and I can talk to you regarding various other laws. So this being the  fundamental thing of forming a union, then industrial dispute, then factory act, Apprentices Act, now the rule says now there are less than hundred workers closing the factory or retrenching the people or dismissing people, they need to take permission. Management can't just do that. Now they are changing it to three hundred. So in India, by all these amendments at least seventy five to seventy eight percent of the working people are taken away from all the labour legislations of the country. You could understand the reasons what actually is the reason for the workers anger all over the country.

Pranjal: If you want to trace back the history of reforms that the current government is bringing,  where do you trace the history and how it is different from the previous UPA government?

AKP: No, actually they are following what the government wants to do from 1991. But unfortunately for the ruling class in this country, there was a sort of a collation at the centre  all these years.

Pranjal: Left was one of the...

AKP: Whether Left was there or not, from 1991 onwards. It was a not a powerful single party government and there were always push or pull. From 1991 onwards, at that time the labour minister himself started giving a call, changes in labour laws is their agenda. But they could not implement it. But how could they within one month of coming to power they started this process because all the ground work was being done earlier. They could not take it out, they could not utilize that. Now as this government came in, they declared, the charter of demands from the employer are ready there. So within months, and even before the new government at the Centre came to power, already the state governments has started the process. In July 2014 the Rajasthan government passed the amendments. Rajasthan government, then Andhra Pradesh government, then Maharashtra government, then Gujarat government and lastly the Madhya Pradesh government.

Pranjal: It would be my last question. So what are the preparations that are going on for the 2nd September strike and what's the way ahead?

AKP: This time we are going to various states, we find more enthusiasm spirited reaction from the workers. We had state level joint conventions of central trade unions and in many states, district level conventions, regional level conventions. Then we had national conventions sector wise. All the unions in public sector, different affiliations, independent unions we met on 25th July in Bangalore. Coal workers met on 10th July in Nagpur. Road Transport workers met on 4th August in Delhi. Electricity workers, Defence Workers, all the three federations, there are three federations nationally, they are together working. Telecom, they are working. So except in railways, because railway trade union leaders, railway workers said we can not organise a one day strike and for your information, already the central government employees including railways and defense they have given a strike notice an indefinite strike from 23rd November on their issues. Their pay, their related issues, from 23rd November 2015  they want to go on an indefinite strike. But those government employees are joining the strike, except railways all others. So all the workers who are organised in the organised sector, unorganised sector, public sector, private sector in manufacturing and the scheme workers we are all prepared to work. Actually, the situation today in my assessment even today we can go on strike. That level we have reached. All the state conventions are over. Now it is a sort of a workforce level, individual workers talking to them, preparing them. My organisation, generally we feel it is not a question of organising a strike of 24 hours alone. We are, my organisation, specifically we have told our cadres, we have told our workers, this time should be utilized. This campaign should be utilized to educate the workers.

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