WFTU statement on the World Water Day

Tags

,

For the WFTU the water is a public good, a valuable natural resource subject to absolute protection of its quantity and quality, which has to be provided with special care for the balanced satisfaction of the modern popular needs and for the maintenance of nature.

The WFTU and the class oriented trade union movement struggle and demand to put into practice, that “water for human use” is not a merchantable product, it must not fall within the meaning of food and should be provided adequately, under the direct responsibility of each government, equally to all citizens of the dominion, as a public good, not being amenable to the “laws of market” and ruled by the rules of health engineering.

WFTU .Secretariat

‘40% jobs will be lost by 2021 due to Automation’ – Experts

Tags

Automation is continuously taking away the jobs of the workers. It is stated by experts that by 2021, about 40% of the existing jobs will be lost worldwide due to automation. And 25% out of this will be in India.

Unemployment in India has been continuously increasing. If the existing jobs are also lost, the situation will become  very serious.

 

Bifurcation of BSNLEU A.P.Circle in to A.P. and Telangana Circles

The Khammam Circle Conference of BSNLEU held on 25-26 March 2017 has taken decision to bifurcate the circle union in to A.P.Circle Union and Telengana Circle Union. Comrades P.Asoka Babu and J.Sampath Rao have been unanimously elected as the Circle Secretaries respectively.

Hearty Congratulations to the new circles and the office-bearers!

Merger of SBI and Affiliated Banks – 10% Staff will be reduced

Tags

,

The merger of the 5 affiliated banks – State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and State Bank of Patiala as also the Bharatiya Mahila Bank with State bank of India (SBI) will result in reduction / retrenchment of about 10% of total staff. This was stated by none other than Rajnish Kumar, Managing Director SBI.

Despite strong protest from the Bank Unions, the merger will be effected from 1st April 2017. Many of the the merged SBI Branches will be closed and the staff relocated. According to the SBI top executive, there will a total staff of about 2,77,000 workers post-merger ( SBI – 2,07,000 plus Merged Banks – 70,000). Within two years about 10% of this staff will have to be reduced according to him.

The closure of branches and reduction of staff will mean less service to the public and more incentive to the growth of private banks. In the name of merger, the neo-liberal pro-corporate agenda of the government is being implemented. What happened with the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines is not forgotten by the public. The new entity became loss making as also a lot of problems arose.

 

‘The First Indian War of Independence – 1857-1859’

Tags

This is the caption of the book which is published incorporating the many articles written by Karl Marx during the period of 1857-59 assessing the various developments in connection with uprising of 1857-59, which the British rulers called ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. It was not a  mere mutiny by the Sepoys, but was part of the great struggle of the people against the British rule.

It is surprising how such detailed information about the movement of the army, the recapture of Delhi and Lucknow by the British, the resistance put by the Indian Sepoys and rulers and above all the review of the entire situation has been explained by Marx, sitting far away from India.

Karl Marx was in full sympathy with the First War of Independence. His articles have been referred in many of the various books / articles published in 1957-58 in connection with the centenary of the great uprising.

A.P.Circle Conference started

The Fifth Circle Conference of BSNLEU got started at Khammam today, 25th March 2017. This is the biggest telecom Circle in India, both in number of employees as also in number of BSNL Employees Union. However the circle union will be bifurcated in to A.P. and Telangana circles in this conference, since BSNL has already bifurcated the same.

Com.Mohan Reddy, Circle President, BSNLEU presided in the open session.Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri Founder General Secretary inaugurated.Coms. Sai Babu, GS CITU Telangana state, P.Abhimanyu GS BSNLEU, P.Asokababu, VP BSNLEU,J.Sampath Rao Circle Secretary and other leaders addressed.

More than 700 comrades are attending. The Conference will continue tomorrow.

Hunger Strike by Casual Contract workers in Kerala

Tags

,

Demanding implementation of the agreement reached last year between the Circle BSNL Management and the CCLU Kerala as also demanding Bonus etc. casual and contract workers organised one day Hunger Strike as per the call of the Circle Unions. Hundreds of workers participated all over the circle.

Hunger Strike was organised with massive participation before the PGM Office in Kozhikode. The programme was inaugurated by Com. P.K.Mukundan, Dist. Secretary CITU Kozhikode. I also addressed and spoke about the demands of the workers and the present position and congratulated for their participation. Comrades M.Vijayakumar, Org. Secretary BSNLEU, K.V.Jayarajan, District President, CCLU, V.Bhagyalakshmi, Convener, Mahila Committee, Asokan, District Secretary CCLU and other leaders addressed.

The Kerala BSNL Management should immediately implement the agreement made with the Union.

 

Red Salute to Martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru!

Tags

Today, 23rd March 2017, is the 86th anniversary of the martyrdom of the great revolutionaries Shahid Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, who were hanged on 23rd March 1931, by the British imperialists. They  sacrificed their priceless lives at the altar of freedom of the country. It is to be remembered that Bhagat Singh was only 23 years when his life was taken away by the brutal British Government.

It is about seven decades since we got political independence. But the secular socialist democratic nation envisaged by martyrs like Bhagat Singh is yet to be achieved. Instead, the present BJP government aggressively is implementing policies which destroy social harmony and create intolerance.

On this day, when we pay homage to the sacred memory of Bhagat Singh and other martyrs, let us pledge to continue our struggle for protecting the secular fabric of the nation!

 

Support Maruti Workers Struggle for Justice – CITU

Tags

,

Press Statement issued by CITU

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) expresses its deep distress and anguish at the sentence of life to 13 workers and of 5 years jail to another four workers of Maruti Suzuki in connection with the violence in the Manesar plant of Maruti in 2012.

The violence in 2012 in which a general manager of the factory was killed was the handiwork of hired musclemen of Maruti Suzuki management meant to create the ground for crushing the unions. Despite no way being responsible for the incident, the workers have been convicted on the basis of concocted evidence manufactured by the state administration, police and employer nexus in a shameless abuse of power. More than 500 workers were thrown out of their jobs and over 200 workers were thrown into jail for up to four and half years. 117 of them had to be acquitted.

However the heinous designs of the Haryana state administration capitalist league to crush the trade union movement in the Gurgaon industrial area could not be achieved fully. Over one lakh workers in the area boycotted lunch on 16th March in spontaneous expression of protest. The workers of Maruti and its ancillaries/ subsidiaries in Gurgaon/ Manesar went on total strike for one hour strike in the evening shift of 18th March. Workers’ unions in Gurgaon industrial area are planning united actions in solidarity with the victimised workers including filing of appeal against the conviction.

CITU denounces the ugly game of the state and capital nexus with the same vehemence with which it denounced the violence of 2012 and congratulates the workers for their immediate and united response. CITU asserts that the trade union movement will not accept and cannot be cowed down with such nefarious acts by the government employer nexus.

CITU expresses its solidarity with the struggle of the Maruti workers and the initiative of the industrial workers unions of Gurgaon in support of the Maruti workers. It calls upon all its state committees, all its affiliated unions and the entire trade union movement irrespective of affiliations to come forward in solidarity with the Maruti workers struggle for justice including the legal battle.

Issued by:
K. Hemalata
President

101 Billionaires in India – 4th in the World

According to Forbes list of richest people in the world India has moved to 4th place with 101 billionaires among the total of 2043 world over.

United States of America tops the list with 565, China second with 319, followed by Germany 114.

2043 richest people in world have combined net worth of $ 8.67 trillion, a record 18% increase over last year.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates tops a record 4th time with $ 86 billion.

Mukesh Ambani has retained the top position in India with $ 23.2 billion.

Thanks to the neo-liberal policies which makes the rich, richest and the poor, poorest. !