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Negotiation fails

The meeting of the union leaders with BSNL Management and the Secretary DOT could not result in any fruitful decision. The Minister, Shri A.Raja, held meetings 9th and 10th July 2007 with representatives of the Joint Forum. The Secretary DOT and BSNL Management were present in the meeting on 10th July. The Minister gave certain assurances, and it was assured that it will be conveyed to the Convener, JF. But the letter given to the Joint Forum was very vague as can be seen below:

Govt. of India, Ministry of Communications & IT, Department of Telecommunications 20, Ashoka Road, Sanchar Bhawan New Delhi dated 10th July 2007.

To Shri V.A.N.Namboodiri, Convener of joint Forum of BSNL Unions & Associations of Non-Executives & Executives and General Secretary BSNL Employees Union, New Delhi.

Sub: Notice for dharna on 9th and 10th July 2007 before offices/exchangesat all levels and one day strike on 11th July 2007

  1. This has reference to the meeting taken by Hon’ble MOC&IT on 10th July 2007 with representatives of joint Forum of BSNL on the above mentioned subject.
  2. During the meeting, various concerns of BSNL employees were deliberated in detail. After the discussions, the following decisions emerged:
  • BSNL will give its response to all the queries raised within a week’s time(This has already been communicated to you vide BSNL Letter No. BSNL/39/7/SR/2007 dated 10th July 2007).
  • MOC&IT expressed his concern about BSNL and assured that while taking a decision on response of BSNL, interest of BSNL will be protected.
  • During the intervening period till receipt of supplies under the tender, appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that BSNL does not suffer due to lack of net work capacity.
  • Serious efforts will be made so that BSNL remains in full readiness to utilize the benefits of technological evolution in 2G/3G/Wi-Max etc.
  • In view of the above, you are requested to withdraw the strike notice and proposed strike on 11th July 2007.

(Sd) D.S.Mathur, Secretary, DOT

The Forum was not satisfied with the letter, since no concrete decision was given to purchase the equipment on the basis of the tender and conveyed the same to the Minister.

The Minister had another meeting with the Joint Forum in the night of 10th July 2007 only hours before the proposed strike in an effort to resolve the issue. While the Minister stood by what was stated in the earlier meeting, he was not prepared to put it in writing.

Joint Forum meets and decides for strike.

The Joint Forum met immediately in the late night and discussed the developments in detail. The Joint Forum decided to go ahead with the strike decision, since the demands have not been accepted. A number of circulars and press releases were issued by the JF, which gave wide publicity to the strike.

The Historic Strike of 11th July 2007.

As per the call of the Joint Forum, the strike started at 00.00 hours on 11th July 2007. The strike scored an unprecedented success with close to 100 % success participation by workers and officers. The entire work force rose as one man to ensure that BSNL survives. It was a wakeup call to the BSNL Management and government. The 11th July Strike by nearly 3,40,000 executives and non-executive employees of BSNL was virtually total, with most of the telephone exchanges and offices remaining closed with  employees on strike. It was for the first time since the formation of BSNL in October 2000 that such a total strike has taken place. It was also a complete strike in the Corporate Office in Delhi, which was housed in the Statesman Building at that time.  It was also the first time that all the executives, except the Group A / ITS officers ( most of whom continued as Govt. officers on deputation to BSNL) plunged in to direct action. The fact that the strike was called at short notice did not have any adverse impact on the strike. It was as if the workers were mentally prepared for a serious action on the issue, which is widely perceived as a life and death question for the existence of BSNL and its workers.

The Joint Forum met on the evening of July 11th 2007 and decided to defer the strike for 15 days and watch the developments and implementation of the assurances already given. In case of non-settlement, the unions decided to meet again and decide the future course of action.

After the  Strike

All the news papers and TV channels prominently focused the BSNL strike. The cancellation of the 4.5 million mobile lines tender was criticized severely. The government was in the dock. News of the strike was published prominently in Political & Business Daily, Hindu, National Herald, Indian Express, Times of India, Business Line, Economic Times and many other papers. The Economic Times wrote an editorial supporting the cause. The Times of India in its report dated 18-07-2007 appreciated the BSNL Unions for their constructive activism as follows:

“BSNL Unions, working to pull BSNL out of the grip of political pressures are attracting growing respect for their constructive activism”.

A letter from Shri S.Rajagopalan, former CMD MTNL published in the Business Line dated 12-07-2007 stated: “ Heartening is the principled stand taken by the BSNL Employees Union which has realized the danger to the future if the tender gets delayed”.

The strike had its own impact. Matters moved fast. While it was to take much time to furnish the report to the Communications Minister and decision by him, the entire process was done within one week and the Advance Purchase Order (APO) issued. However, the APO was only for 22.75 million (50% of the tender) and the higher technology 3G portion not included. The Joint Forum protested strongly.

The Communications Minister, Shri A.Raja, once again met the Joint Forum and assured that action will be taken immediately to purchase GSM lines as also additional orders will be issued as soon as spectrum policy is announced and bandwidth allotted to BSNL.

Struggle to continue

The strike was not only for getting more GSM lines and higher technology. It was a fight for the survival of BSNL as a PSU. There are vested interests and MNCs who want BSNL to be made a loss making concern and then disinvest/privatise it. Not only the government has gone back on the assurances given to BSNL like payment of ADC, reimbursement of licence fee, liberal grant of funds from USOF etc. , it was supporting the private sector against the interest of BSNL. Navaratna status was not given despite full justification.  The new liberalization policy wants the much profitable telecom sector to be handed over to the private for which the telecom PSU, BSNL, is a hindrance. They want BSNL to be finished. It is against this anti-PSU, anti-BSNL policy that the workers fought. (To be continued)