2nd September 2015
Press
Release
CITU Salutes the Working Class of India
for the Historic Strike
On 2nd September 2015
The Centre of Indian
Trade Unions congratulates and salutes the working class of India for the
unprecedented and historic strike today against the anti worker, anti people
and anti national policies of the BJP led NDA government.
Over 15 crores workers
employed in almost all the sectors of the country’s economy covering the
organised and unorganised sectors, public and private sectors, the central and
state government sectors and the scheme workers participated in this strike.
Protest demonstrations, rasta roko and rail roko were held across the country
in which thousands of workers participated.
Police was used on the
workers in several states. The Trinamool government in West Bengal used the
brutal force of its police as well as its goons to physically attack the
workers on strike. In fact attack by Trinamool goons to foil the strike started
at least three days before the strike date and during this period several
processions and meetings for strike campaign in different places in the state
were attacked, offices were ransacked and many activists were injured. On the
day of the strike, police along with Trinamool goons carried on brutal attacks
on the strikers and TU activists throughout the state severely injuring many of
the activists including senior leaders. Workers and their leaders
were arrested in several places in the state. Police resorted to severe lathi
charge and arrests in many other states including Assam, Jammu and Kashmir etc.
CITU congratulates the workers, particularly in West Bengal for heroically
resisting these attacks and participating in the strike in a massive manner.
In many states,
including West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana,
Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, many districts of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh etc
the strike turned into a virtual bandh with road transport and normal
activities coming to a grinding halt. The manufacturing activities in several
industrial clusters across the country totally stopped due to the strike.
The unprecedented
response to the strike reflects the anger and resentment of the workers against
the attacks on their working and living conditions and the attempts to deny
their basic rights by amending the labour laws to benefit the national and
multinational corporations. It reflects the anger at ignoring their basic
demands that were being raised since the last several years. It also reflects
the determination of the working class to fight back the nefarious design of
the corporate-serving Govt at the centre to impose slavery on them through
draconian changes in all labour laws. Through this strike the working
class of India has warned the government that it was not going to take lying
down the attacks on its basic rights. It also warned the government that
policies that mortgage the country to corporate interests, both foreign and
domestic will not be tolerated.
The CITU extends its
gratitude to the massive support and solidarity extended to the strike by
various sections of the people including kisans, agricultural workers, adivasis
etc.
CITU demands the
government to scrap the entire anti worker amendments to the labour laws and
take immediate concrete action on all the demands raised by the joint trade
union movement.
It calls upon the
working class to further strengthen the unity at the grass root level and be
prepared for more intense struggles if the government chooses to continue with
its policies.
Issued by,
(TAPAN SEN)
General Secretary
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