State stifling trade unions : CITU AP State Conference

Concluding its four-day 12th AP State conference here on Wednesday, CITU has vowed to fight the anti-worker policies of the governments across all sectors and along with the other unions.

Addressing a press conference, State President S. Veeraiah and general secretary R. Sudhabhaskar said the government was stifling trade union rights and a grand resistance would be built to fight it. Doing away with the decade-old condition that seven workers could start a union, the government was making 100 workers or 10 per cent of the workforce a condition. The number of outsiders among office-bearers was also being reduced to 50 per cent for the organised sector.

The Central Indian Trade Unions (CITU ) is planning to spread its movements by not only holding protests and rallies, but also to take up cudgels and fight for the personal needs of members of the working class, said CITU Andhra Pradesh General secretary R Sudha Bhaskar.


He said the state government is creating a war like situation. ''It is trying to convert the state into a Union less land which is conducive to the private sector. The state government is going to get the SEZs under the Special Economic Manufacturing Zone (SEMZ) purview, which ignores the rights of the working class,'' he said.

Mr Bhaskar said the fate of the mid-day meal, Anganwadi and Aasha workers was very pathetic as the government was not paying them the wages due to them. They only earn a meagre amount of Rs 400 on completion of an assignment, he said.

The 1,50,000 mid day meal workers and the 70,000 Aasha workers were driven to a state of semi-employed state by the government, he alleged. He also claimed that the mid day meal workers were not paid even a single paisa since December. The CITU is planning to stage dharnas before the CDPO offices on the June 18, he announced.

According to the Dr Arjun Sengupta Committee report there are one crore unorganised workers in the state. CITU is going to build strong movements in the unorganised sector, he said. CITU is surging ahead by building trade union movements in the wake of the mass scale privatisation in the state. ''Our union is gearing itself to meet future challenges and to meet the needs of the unorganised sector, which is growing by the day. In the present conference, we are planning not only to improve our strength in numbers, but also our working pattern,'' he said.

The ongoing conference is discussing various aspects of functioning, categorising them into five broad operations terming them as Missions. The missions are presently mulling on the democratic work pattern, account systems, membership, working class unity at the ground level, building workers movements in municipal towns, he elaborated.

CITU membership has increased to 5,76,000 from 4,44,000 when the last conference took place, he said. CITU is also taking up the workers movements in the public sector by way of united struggles by tying up with the central unions. At present CITU is working with Nine central unions, he said.

Trade union activities were barred in the special investment zones proposed by the government in its draft new industrial policy, Mr. Sudhabhaskar said, adding that the State conference had decided to build movements strengthening CITU in all mandals and towns.

Deploring the attacks on trade unions, Mr. Veeraiah described it as the culmination of the policies of globalisation and privatisation launched in 1990s. He cited the instance of a circular being issued to identify persons ‘creating problems' in running the anganwadi centres.

Re-elected

Mr S.Veeraiah and Mr R. Sudhabhaskar have been re-elected president and general secretary of CITU at the 12 th AP State conference that concluded here on Wednesday. Md. Abbas will be the new treasurer. Besides 12 vice-presidents and 11 secretaries, 26 office-bearers, a council and committee comprising 188 members 110 members respectively were elected.

CITU is participating in a convention of working class at New Delhi along with all the central trade unions on July 15. In the present conference, CITU is also focusing on the fishermens movements, he said.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)