CPIM condems the arrest of trade union leaders

CPI(M) Tamil Nadu State secretary G. Ramakrishnan condemned the re-arrest of CITU general secretary A. Soundararajan and 12 others immediately after their release on bail on Wednesday.

Com. Soundararajan and others were arrested and remanded to judicial custody on October 9 for fighting against the suspension of 23 workers and in support of a secret ballot to elect trade union leaders in Foxconn factory in Sriperumbudur. In a statement here, Mr. Ramakrishnan said Mr. Soundararajan and others were re-arrested on charges of causing damage to public property. “The government should withdraw the cases and intervene to find an amicable solution to the workers' problems in Foxconn,” he said.

CITU Karnataka Vidhana Soudha Chalo on October 20

The State unit of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) will take out a Vidhana Soudha Chalo here on October 20 in protest against the alleged misdeeds of the Government and to draw its attention towards the immediate needs of workers and the poor.
 

The president of the CITU State unit, V.J.K. Nair, and general secretary S. Prasannakumar told presspersons here on Wednesday that the BJP Government was caught in a whirlpool of serious problems and issues by its own misdeeds. In the process of its “power protecting politics”, it has neglected the problems of the workers and general public.

The Government should provide relief to all workers from the increase of price on all fronts by fixing a minimum wage of Rs. 6,000 for those working in the districts and Rs. 10,000 for workers in Bangalore. It should also issue ration cards for all and supply a minimum of 15 kg rice at Rs. 2 a kg for each family through its fair price shops, they said.

Demanding that the Government should abolish contract labour system and regularise all contract labour, they commented that the Government itself is accused of practicing nepotism and favouritism in denotifying land acquired for public purposes.

The Government had failed to fulfil the housing needs of the workers and the poor. It is time that the Government allocated free dwelling sites for all such people, they said. Emphasising the need for implementing labour-related laws strictly, Mr. Nair and Mr. Prasannakumar said that the Government should consider the long-pending wage revision in the State road transport corporations and order elections to the trade unions pending for over 14 years. The Government should extend minimum benefits for all hamali workers, they added.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)