On the occasion of May Day 2011, the day of the international solidarity and unity of the working class, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) extends warmest revolutionary greetings to the entire fraternity of the working class and the toiling people of the country and the world. On this great day the CITU re-affirms its commitment to class struggle and reiterates its goal for establishment of a Socialism to ensure complete emancipation of the human society from all forms of exploitation.
Fraternal Greetings
CITU conveys its firm solidarity to the struggles of agricultural workers, poor and middle peasantry against the disastrous impact of deepening agrarian crisis under neoliberal order and for better wages, right to land, remunerative prices, institutional credit at low interest rates, and input and infrastructural support through massive public investment. CITU aspires for an effective joint struggle of workers, agricultural workers and small peasants against neoliberalism in the days to come.
CITU also conveys its fraternal greetings and message of solidarity to the struggles of the youth and students organizations for the right to education and employment and against commercialization and privatization of education which were also the offshoot of the neoliberal policy regime. CITU expresses solidarity to the struggles of women’s organizations against discrimination, violence and for their right to appropriate representation and empowerment.
CITU reiterates its commitment of solidarity to the struggles of working people in the capitalist world fighting against the onslaught on their rights to employment, living wages, social security and trade union rights unleashed by the crisis stricken neoliberal economic order. Struggles are on the rise both in the developed and also in the developing countries against the attack on their rights and livelihood by the recession stricken neoliberal capitalist order and the imperialist agencies.
CITU conveys its warm revolutionary greetings to the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) for having held the 16th World Trade Union Congress in Athens, Greece, where it has been decided to carry forward the class oriented Trade Union activities and struggles against the imperialist and capitalist offensive against the working people all over the world.
Greetings to Socialist Countries
On this May-day, the CITU conveys its fraternal greetings to the working class of the socialist countries for their continued fight to protect the gains of revolution, to continuously improve and expand the rights and the living condition of the people in the midst of worldwide crisis of the capitalist order, and holding high the banner of socialism and defending the superiority of the socialist system.
CITU rejoices over the successes attained by Socialist Cuba in carrying forward its advancement braving the economic blockade and sanctions thrust upon it by the US imperialism. Cuba’s steadfast and uncompromising stance against US hegemonism will continue to be the source of inspiration for the toiling people’s movement all over the world.
Rising Assertion for Democracy and Against Authoritarianism
On this May-Day, CITU welcomes the rising peoples’ assertion in the Arab World against authoritarian rule and for democratic rights, which started with peoples’ uprising in Tunisia and thereafter in Egypt unseating the Hosni Mubarak Govt. This has spread like waves of similar peoples’ action in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Oman, Jordon, Morocco, Turkey, Algeria and other places opening up the possibility of changes towards a more democratic order in most of the countries. CITU notes with pride that working class played a crucial frontline role in many of these countries in such peoples’ assertion against autocracy. It also notes that unbearable sufferings of the mass of the people owing to severe economic crisis reflected in widespread joblessness, rising food prices, widening poverty among the masses, rising cost of public utilities, corruption etc and denial of rights to even voice the resentment by the repressive autocratic Govts led to such flare-up of popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt, followed by other countries in the region.
While welcoming the mounting peoples’ assertion against autocratic regime in the Arab world as a positive development in world political scenario, CITU notes with anxiety and anguish the satanic ploy of US imperialism and NATO to intervene into the situation with an aggressionist approach. In Libya, NATO’s mass-scale air-strike on the vile plea of protecting civilians under the garb of UN Security Council’s Resolution, has actually killed large number of civilians, besides exposing the imperialist’s ploy to re-establish control on the Oil-rich Libya. Hypocrisy of the imperialism led by US stands thoroughly exposed when the same US administration supports the Saudi Arabian military intervention to prop up the Autocratic Khalifa regime at Bahrain in its brutal crack-down on mass of the civilians protesting against autocracy and demanding democratic changes. The same imperialists are also lending tacit support to brutal crackdown on the protesting civilians to kill and maim them by the respective despots in Tunisia and Yemen.
Therefore, while welcoming the popular pro-democracy uprising in the Arab world, CITU joins the world’s peace-loving community in condemning the imperialist’s and imperialist-backed aggressionist interventions in some of the countries.
Against Imperialist Machinations
On this May Day the CITU expresses its deep anguish and reiterates its condemnation against the aggressive hegemonic machinations of the imperialist forces led by US imperialism. Besides continuing its de-facto occupation on Iraq and Afganisthan, it has been in continuous quest for new areas of intervention particularly focusing on the oil-rich Arab world.
CITU reiterates its solidarity with the struggling Palestinian people in the face of inhuman military onslaught by Israel with active support of the military strength of US and its European allies. CITU also condemns the continuing conspiracy of the US imperialists to attack Iran, Syria and DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).
There are indications of changes too arising out of murmuring and not so loud contradictions within the imperialist powers and their allies indicating prospect of emergence of multipolarity in the international arena. And even in the matter of NATO’s intervention in Libya, Germany and Turkey have withdrawn themselves and Germany along with Russia and India abstained from voting on UN Security Council’s resolution on Libya.
In the face of the rising opposition to its economic political and military hegemony and its increasing isolation, the US has become desperate to consolidate its influence. The US has been desperately attempting to tighten its grip over the ruling polity in the developing countries in the eastern hemisphere including the Indian sub continent. The strategic military cooperation and the Indo US nuclear deal are expressions of this intent. US imperialism has redoubled its conspiratorial attempts to weaken the opposition to its interventions and interference by the Left and other progressive forces in the developing countries, including India. Recent Wikileaks expose has thoroughly exposed as to how the US administration has long been monitoring and interfering in the day to day governance of our country including appointment of ministers, important policy decisions on both political, economic and foreign policy fronts while Indian ruling polity has been subjecting itself to that process obligingly.
Rising Struggles Worldwide
This year’s May Day is being observed the world-over in the midst of widespread protest mobilizations and united actions by the toiling masses against the onslaught on their rights and livelihood following the worst-ever global crisis of the capitalist order in the form of mass-scale joblosses, lay-off, closure, wage-cut etc. Despite all optimistic talks of recovery, the situation in the advanced industrialized economies of the Europe and the West continued to remain critical with rising unemployment and deep-seated recession owing to their sticking to the same bankrupt finance-capital driven neoliberal path.
Following global meltdown, public exchequers in these countries were liberally utilized to bail out the bankrupt banks and financial institutions which in turn plunged these countries, the European countries in particular in acute debt crisis pushing the Govts into virtual bankruptcy. This resulted in the respective Governments adopting a drastic cut on all public related expenditures in the name of so called austerity measures while letting the capitalist lobby a free hand to loot the workers and the people. All aspects of the working life of the people, right to employment, social security, wages, working hours etc are under severe attack by such exercise of austerity and the workers enmasse are opposing such loot and plunder through strikes and militant mobilizations all over the world. During the period since last May-Day 2010, entire Europe and also USA became a theatre of militant strike actions and massive protest mobilizations by millions of workers and toiling people from all walks of life boiling in anger owing to price-rise, unemployment, cuts in wages and social security and other attacks on their life and livelihood thereby exposing the utter inefficacy of the neoliberal capitalist order to address the basic problems of mankind. CITU garners strength and inspiration from such rising tide of the worldwide struggles by the working class, voices its solidarity which those struggles and stressed upon the urgency for sharpening those struggles to force upon reversal of neoliberal capitalist order itself.
Capitalism Stands Exposed
The current spate of crisis fuelled by so called global financial meltdown has been the inevitable culmination of the finance capital driven neoliberal imperialist order. All aspects of economic governance are subordinated to finance capital’s lust for quickest possible gain. This crisis thoroughly exposed the extreme fragility of the world capitalist order while exploding the much-touted idea of seeking “opportunity for development” in the neoliberal packages. It has also exposed the dubious mode of operation of modern capitalism under neoliberal order. When there is a boom, there will be no regulations and the speculators will reign. They will create artificial boom by fraudulent methods using public funds for their personal or cartels’ gains. When the boom bursts, the government will rescue the collapsing institutions by public funds, but the people will continue to lose through unemployment, loss of savings, wage cut etc. This is the real face of present day capitalism under neoliberal globalisation, which is nothing but a loot and fraud on the people and the economy, integrally built-in the working of the capitalist system. On this May-day, CITU renews its commitment to work for exposing this dubious system before the people while continuing to fight against its depredations.
In India
CITU takes pride along with the entire toiling class that owing to consistent opposition and united countrywide struggle by the working class and stout resistance by the Left forces in Parliament, the financial sector of the country could not be privatised or deregulated fully, privatisation of public sector units could be halted and the country’s economy could be saved, at least partially, from inevitable collapse and disaster in the midst of global economic meltdown.
At the same times, CITU notes with anguish that the ruling polity, instead of taking lessons from the crisis has been pushing through the same failed path of financial sector deregulation and privatization and already Bills are introduced in that direction. This is also reflected in ongoing aggressive exercise of initiating a free trade regime with the European Union etc. At the same time, it has set in motion a regime of widespread corruption, loot and fraud on the mass of the people.
The intervening period has witnessed exposure of numerous cases of the worst kind of corruption involving huge loss to public exchequer in telecom, mining, construction of Common Wealth Games infrastructure, various land and housing deals etc benefiting the big corporate houses, both domestic and foreign. This is also reflected in huge drainage and accumulation of black money in foreign banks. The manner such corrupt deals are promoted by those in governance reflects the depth of criminalization and simultaneous corporate-captivity of the entire governance under the neoliberal economic order. In fact corruption got totally institutionalized and neoliberal policies paved the way for the same.
The same corruption in governance is reflected in the management of the economy under the neoliberal format. The same corrupt approach surfaced in the management of continuously rising prices, the food inflation in particular. It has become a joint venture of the Government and the corporate speculators in the commodity market where shortage and scarcity of food articles and resultant price-rise are being cultivated and promoted further to ensure windfall gains for the corporate speculators in the commodity market. The refusal of the Govt to universalize the public distribution system and dilly-dullying in Right to Food legislation are integral part of that joint venture exercise. The whole system of economic governance including the agricultural credit have been so much biased in favour of big corporate landlords and the corporate lobby in commodity trading that the small and middle peasants who produce the food grains do not get enough price for a human survival on the one hand and people as consumer pay through their nose for their food just to survive.
At the same time the mass of the people are being cruelly fleeced through higher burden of taxes and duties and drastic cut in basic subsidies like food, fertilizers and fuels. Most of the crucial inputs and commodities like fuel, fertilizers, medicines etc are being sought to be priced at par with global rates while keeping the mass of the people deprived of even the statutory minimum wages at home and/or minimum level of earnings to ensure a barely human living. The crucial public utilities like health, education, roadways, transport etc are being sought to be privatized and commercialized through so called PPP model and blue chip public sector units in strategic, infrastructure and natural resources sector are being sought to be privatized in phases at throw-away prices.
And simultaneously as a supplementary measure, all basic labour laws are being allowed to be desperately violated by the employers in collusion with the custodians of law and order. Trade unions are not being allowed to be formed in many places and rampant victimization of workers for forming trade unions has become the order of the day. The motive is to weaken the peoples’ opposition and resistance to anti-people policies and anti-national designs. The attack on the labour rights, as the history shows, has always been precursors to onslaught on the democratic rights and institutions.
And of late, active move is afoot to completely change the labour laws to legitimize the violations and empower the employers to hire and fire at will; pension system is being totally privatized to allow the pension funds to be handled by the speculators, both domestic and foreign along with switching over from a system of assured pension to a system dependent on the market forces.
On this May-day, CITU vows to redouble its initiative to unite the toiling class in the resistance to the regime of loot and plunder on people, who produces wealth and push up GDP numbers by their sweat and blood. The brutality of the employers class, howsoever atrocious it might be with the active patronage of those in governance, have to be combated by the working class through demonstration of greater unity, vigour and conviction to combat and defeat the exploitation and the exploiting class as well.
That is the challenge destined to be taken up by the working class in the coming days. In view of the set back of the Left forces in the last Lok Sabha election and a weakened Left inside Parliament, the historic responsibility to build the resistance to such grave anti-people and anti-national designs of ruling combine has fallen on the life-line of the Left movement in the country—the working class.
CITU notes with confidence, while the correlation of forces in the political arena inside the Parliament has somewhat tilted towards the right, developments outside signal differently. All the trade unions, irrespective of affiliations, came together on the same platform to raise voice against price-rise, against state-sponsored violation of labour laws, against reckless contractorisation and casualisation of workforce, against disinvestment and privatization and demanding universal social security coverage for unorganized sector workers. Workers in various sectors are on bitter struggles in respective industries. More than three hundred thousand coal workers went on countrywide strike action on 5th May 2010 against disinvestment at the initiative of CITU alone and that paved the way for all in united strike action in the industry in the days to come. In Banking and financial sector and in telecom sector also the workers protested against deregulation through massive united strike action during the intervening period. On 7th September 2011, countrywide all in united general strike by around 10 crore (100 million) workers created history in the annals of the trade union movement in the country. And as a follow up to that historic action, around half a million workers thronged in the national capital at New Delhi on 23rd February 2011 to stage militant demonstration before Parliament. On this May-day CITU calls upon the working class to widen further the all in unity of trade unions at the grass root level and carry the united struggle of the working people to a militant height to fight for reversal of the anti-people pro-imperialist policy regime.
Combat the onslaught on Left and Democratic Movement
May Day 2011 is going to be observed at a time when the country is in the midst of a grim political battle in two major stronghold states of the working class movement where the Left and Democratic forces are running the state governments. In these two states –the elections for the state legislature which has already started in the first week of April 2011 and end on 10th May, symbolizes the fight between policies of neoliberalism and the progressive forces opposing the same and fighting for pro-people alternative. It is going to be a fight between Left and democratic forces and the forces of extreme right reaction, between the pro-people welfarist policy of governance and the corporate captive policies of loot, plunder and fraud on mass of the populace. It is also going to be battle between the policy of empowering the working people and policies for subjecting them to slavery and worst exploitation for corporate sector’s windfall gain, both domestic and foreign. The working class movement of the country must stand and battle for victory of the Left and democratic forces since the aspiration of the working class for better life and expanded rights coincides with the vision of the Left forces.
On this May-day the CITU therefore calls upon the working class movement to fight and combat the grievous onslaught being perpetrated on the Left and democratic movement which always stand by the working class in all its struggles and always voice their concern and work for their victory in all the states where state legislature’s elections are taking place.
We must note that in the face of Left’s uncompromising stance against neoliberal and pro-imperialist policy regime and its successful blockade to many of their anti people projects, all the forces of right reaction aided and abetted by the imperialist agencies and the big-bourgeois-run media have become desperate in launching an all round attack against the Left movement.
Along with, concerted physical attack is also being launched against the Left and democratic movement in the strongest bastion of Left in West Bengal by the gang-up of extreme right reaction and extreme ultra-Left combine in the garb of so called Maoist outfit and all kinds of divisive and separatist forces. In Kerala all the anti-Left forces have ganged up along with the bourgeois media to carry on malicious campaign against the Left and Democratic forces to confuse the people against the Left forces.
The people of West Bengal have been physically in the frontline of this resistance struggle, bleeding and laying down their lives. The people of Kerala are also heroically combating the heinous campaign against the Left. The enemy they are fighting is the enemy of the entire toiling class, enemy of democracy, enemy of peoples’ empowerment and finally the enemy of the people. Therefore, there must be no let-up on the part of working class movement in other states in the continuing campaign to expose the game plan of the right-reactionary-ultra-left-imperialist agencies behind the continuing attacks campaign against the Left forces in these states and also in solidarity actions. On this May Day CITU pledges to rouse the working class throughout the country ideologically and organizationally, to unite and fight against the brutal onslaught on their fellow travellers in West Bengal and Kerala who always remained in the frontline of battle championing the cause of the working class and led the struggle against exploitative regime of the capitalist order.
The Appeal of May Day 2011
On this May Day 2011, CITU reasserts its commitment to international solidarity with the struggles being carried on by the working class throughout the globe against imperialist offensives and the neoliberal order and in defence of their rights and livelighood.
CITU reiterates its firm support to the Left forces in their struggle against right reactionary and the imperialist forces. CITU’s call to the working class to support the Left candidates in the forthcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Tamilnadu is part and parcel of this struggle.
CITU appeals to the working people in the country to work for building all in unity of the class to combat and confront the onslaught being brought down by the corporate captive ruling polity on the rights and livelihood of the workers at every workplace; the struggle against attack on labour rights in workplace must be supplemented by solidarity actions in all others. Solidarity actions must form an inseparable part of the day to day collective life of the working people. This is the call of May-day.
On this May-day CITU calls upon the working class to remain vigilant and fight against the divisive forces of all hues- communalism, casteism and parochialism while defending and expanding the unity of the class and the people in the struggle against oppression and exploitation.
Long Live International Solidarity of the Working Class
Down with Capitalism & Imperialism
Down with Neoliberal Imperialist Globalisation
Long Live Socialism
