As expected, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has opposed the 28th February Strike called by the Central trade Unions and All India Federations on the charter of demands of the workers. She has  called upon workers to oppose the nation-wide strike on February 28. As per the W.Bengal chief secretary’s circular, employees staying away from work would face deduction of leave and salary and might also lose seniority or face discontinuation of service!

In  response to Opposition  criticism of her government for opposing the strike, the chief minister said, “I have told (Labour Minister) Purnendu Basu, if anyone does not want to work, relieve him. If someone wants to work, promote him. Enough is enough. I will not allow daltantra (party politics). There will only be democracy.”

Does Mamata wants a ‘Jayalalitha act’ ? (Chief Minister Jayalalitha dismissed, terminated and arrested thousands of workers when the T.Nadu state government employees went on strike a few years back.). The times have changed. The workers are capable of facing the threats and reacting.

The meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will meet today to discuss the various issues in its agenda.

One issue is the minimum pension under the Employees Pension Scheme (EPS).  At present, there is no rule regarding minimum pension. Many pensioners are getting only Rs. 200 or 300 with less than 10% getting more than Rs, 1,000. The Unions have been demanding that the at least a minimum pension of Rs. 1,000 should be ensured to all. Considering the present high cost of essential commodities, it should be much more. But even the demand for Rs. 1,000 has not been accepted so far. The meeting today should take a favourable decision in the matter.

Another issue is the interest rate for EPF for the year 2012-13. The unions have been demanding that it should be 9.5% as last year. But the employers are prepared only for 8.5%. This cannot be accepted. When the interest rates have been increased by the banks and other financial institutions, how the employees can be denied the same for their Provident Fund Accounts?  The government should come forward to maintain the interest rate as in last year.

The All India BSNL-DOT Pensioners Association (AIBDPA), the biggest union of the DOT and BSNL Pensioners Association, has extended its support and solidarity to the nationwide strike on 28th February 2012. In his circular, the General Secretary of the Association, Comrade, K.G.Jayaraj, has called upon all its members to participate in all the programmes connected with the 28th February strike to extend the solidarity. The Pensioners very well know that it was only through the struggles organised by the BSNLEU and the Joint Action Committee of BSNL Unions/Associations that many of their issues, including Pension Revision, could be achieved.

More and more support for the strike is coming from all sections.

Despite the demand of all the unions in the 44th Indian Labour Conference, no decision was taken by the Government to fix the minimum wage at Rs.10,000.The employers of course opposed it. But it is for the government to take the decision.

Look to the following facts. These employers who say that they can’t pay the minimum wage of Rs.10,000 to the workers are paying themselves, to their CEOs, CMDs, MDs and top management personnel, lakhs and in some cases crores of rupees . They are spending crores for their air-travels in first class and executive class. They are living in multi-storeyed bungalows and spending crores for club membership etc. at the company’s expenses. All kinds of fringe benefits are extended to the top personnel.

But when it comes to the bare minimum wages for the ordinary worker, they refuse to pay. It is the inability, or rather the unwillingness,  of the government that is the cause for the denial of minimum wage to the toiling worker. This has to be changed.

The second day of the 44^th session of the Indian Labour Conference on 15^th February saw the trade union leaders strongly presenting their demands. There was a consensus that the minimum wage should be decided. The unions pointed out that even according to the decisions of the 15^th Indian Labour Conference of 1957, the minimum wage will come to Rs. 9730 and the present minimum wage should be fixed at Rs.10,000. DA also should be paid. It was also demanded that the PF Pension should be at least a minimum of Rs.1,000. At present many PF pensioners are getting Rs. 200/ 300 etc.). It was also demanded that the maternity leave should be increased from 12 weeks to 24 weeks.  Provident Fund should be implemented in all organisations where there are a minimum of 10 workers instead of 20. Com. A.K.Padmanabhan, President, CITU spoke on second day on behalf of CITU.

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of Labour and Employment in his concluding remarks stated that the demands of the workers will be examined favourably before taking any decision.

It can be stated that the central trade union leaders have emphatically placed their demands. It is for the government now to take the decisions.  The 28^th February strike will be a warning to the government.

As per the call of the BSNL Non-executive unions, joint conventions of BSNL unions are being held all over India to prepare for the Nation Wide Strike on 28th February 2012 on the genuine demands of the working class and the common people. State wide conventions have been held at Bangalore, Chennai and Cochin already participated by All India leaders of the unions. Conventions are being held at other centres also.

A SSA level Convention was held on 15th February at Kozhikode (Calicut) attended by a large number of workers. Com. T.K.Surendran, DS, NFTE presided. In my inaugural speech, I explained the charter of demands of the strike notice and also the background of the united actions by the working class in India against the anti-worker neo-liberal policies being persued by the government. I also impressed upon the workers the need for unitedly fighting against the attacks on the workers. Coms. Jayaraj, DS, BSNLEU, M.K.Beeran, FNTO, Venugopal. BMS, Vijayakumar, BSNLEU and other leaders addressed and assured the All India leadership that there will be full strike in Calicut as usual. A good number of women workers also participated.