The Bank Unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions have decided to lauch agitations against the Banking Laws amendment Bill, the objective of which is to amend the Banking Regulation Act and Banking Companies Acquisition Act which is intended to liberalise the banking sector. The agitations include badge-wearing, demonstration, delegations, dharna etc.

The Budget presented by the UPA II government is completely anti-worker. I am giving below  a Press Statement issued by CITU in this connection:

New Delhi, March 16: The Centre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU) secretariat has issued the following statement:
The UPA II government’s utter disregard for the workers has once again come out in the open in the Union Budget. Presenting the tax proposals in his Budget speech, the Finance Minister said ‘Various players, including policy makers, politicians, agriculturists and business houses, participate in the making of the economy’. Not a word about the contribution of the workers to the national economy!
The Union Budget 2012 – 13 continued the pattern of providing concessions to the rich while imposing burdens on the poor – Rs 4500 crore relief was extended in direct taxes while a burden of Rs 45000 was imposed on the common people through indirect taxes. The increase in the service tax will lead to further price rise.
Not a paisa has been allocated for the Unorganised Sector Social Security Fund, making the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act a mockery. The Finance Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to allow FDI in retail, to the enactment of the PFRDA Act. While the public sector enterprises have a huge surplus of Rs 6 lakhs crores, the government is determined to garner Rs 30000 crores through disinvestment. He has announced income tax concession under the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme to lure people into the share market, even while announcing that expenditure on subsidies to the poor would be brought down.
While increasing the allocation for Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the Finance Minster revealed the attitude of the government to exploit women workers through extraction of unpaid work. The ‘scope of activities’ of the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) under the NRHM will be increased and they would be required to play a ‘more active role’, but no regular and fixed income is ensured for them. Allocation for ICDS and Mid Day meal programmes have been increased but no provision has been made for ensuring minimum wages, pension and other social security benefits for the anganwadi employees and the mid day meal workers.
Not a single demand of the joint trade union movement raised through the 28th February strike has been addressed in this Budget. It is a clear indication of the determination of the UPA II government to pursue with the neoliberal policies despite the massive and unprecedented united countrywide strike and its dismal performance in the elections to the state assemblies that reflected the serious discontent among the people towards its policies.
CITU calls upon the workers all over the country to intensify the joint struggles in the coming days to ensure the reversal of the anti worker and anti people policies.

The 28th February Strike is having its impact on the Government. The Prime Minister who advised his government to file appeal against the decision of the Karnataka High Court which ordered that the state minimum wage should be paid to the NREGA workers in Karnataka, has been now compelled to change his views as can be seen from the following report. In this connection, I am reproducing a report in the press:

“The Union Government is expected to announce a policy decision soon on the vexed issue of employment of contract labour.

Mr G. Sanjeeva Reddy, the President of INTUC, told Business Line here on Friday that the Government might declare norms for ensuring equality in terms of payment to contract workers in the Budget announcement. He said currently the Cabinet Secretariat is looking into it.

“The Government has in principle accepted that when a contract labour does the same job as a permanent worker does in an establishment, the former cannot be discriminated against in terms of financial compensation,” Mr Reddy, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said.

The apex court also expressed a similar view, he pointed out.

The Government has already prepared a study on contract labour – engaged both in private and public sector organisations.

“The Government is figuring out the cost to the economy if such pay parity is introduced across the country. I have reasons to believe that certain positive steps towards the contract labour issue are in the offing,” he affirmed.

The labour unions continue to view the system of contract labour as exploitative.

“We want a gradual abolition of this system. As a first step we want parity on financial compensation. We also feel the need for a joint negotiating forum of the employers and the workers. The Government also should fix ceiling in percentage terms of employment of contract labour in an organisation,” Mr Reddy said.

For providing legislative protection to this category of workers, whose conditions were found to be abysmal, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act was enacted in 1970.

Consequently, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 came into force.

However, the constitutional validity of the Act and the rules were challenged before the Supreme Court in the Gammon India Ltd. Vs. Union of India case. But the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Act and the Rules in 1974.”

The Left-backed Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has claimed that today’s nationwide strike  was a success in West Bengal despite “attacks” on Left workers, leaders and journalists. Rejecting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim that the strike had failed, CITU state President Shyamal Chakraborty said despite “state-sponsored threats”, people responded to the strike call. “Several Left workers were attacked and injured, while former minister Srikumar Mukherjee was heckled by the Trinamool Congressmen,” Chakraborty told reporters at Shramik Bhavan. The arrested included CPI(M) leader Narayan Biswas, Manik Sanyal and others, he said. “The success of the strike points to the eroding popularity of the Mamata Banerjee government, which rode to power with an overwhelming majority,” he said. “We fail to understand why the administration was so scared of the strike that it had to issue a threat notice to its employees. “We condemn the oppressive measures of the state machinery and authoritarian attitude of the chief minister to foil the strike,” Chakraborty said. Claiming that the Chief Minister had given out wrong information, the CITU leader held that 85 per cent of jute mill workers joined the strike, followed by 82 per cent in coal mines, 65 per cent in steel plants, total strike in hosiery mills and 90 per cent in the IT industry, while tea gardens in North Bengal observed total strike. According to him, workers in some power generating plants did not report for duty causing lesser generation of 650 MW. He said five Jet Airways, 8 Air-India, 6 Spicejet flights were cancelled, while only 20 per cent of taxis and autorickshaws were on the roads. “Due to threats, some state-run buses plied, but there were less private buses which were later withdrawn,” he said. (Courtsey: Ganashakti)

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) congratulates the millions of workers and employees throughout the country who have struck work and registered a strong protest against the neo-liberal economic policies being pursued by the UPA government.
The call for the strike was given by the united platform of all Central trade unions. This is the first joint strike call by all the Central trade unions and the all India Federations of employees in various sectors. Reports indicate that over ten crore workers and employees participated in the strike.
The general strike was a huge success in the banking, telecom, defence, insurance, mining, transport, insurance, various public sector units, central and state government offices and departments. Shops and markets remained closed in various places. In many places in West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, the striking workers had to brave brutal attacks by the police and also large scale arrests. Besides police attacks, the striking workers in West Bengal had to face severe physical attacks by hoodlums let loose by the ruling TMC.
The strike call was given to demand among other things concrete measures to contain price rise; strict enforcement of labour laws; universal social security cover for the unorganized sector workers; against disinvestment of PSUs etc.
The massive response to the strike should serve as a warning to the government that the working people and their unions would not accept such indifference and neglect lying down and they will further intensify their struggle if their basic demands are not addressed. The unity and militancy displayed during this strike should be carried forward for bringing in alternative policies.