The Two Days relay fast called for by the United Forum of BSNL Unions for 28th and 29th November has been made a complete success through the maximum participation of workers. Report all over India indicates that large number of workers have participated in each SSA and Circle.  The details will be published in the BSNLEU website.

In Delhi, the fast was organised in front of the BSNL Corporate Office. All India leaders of the unions affiliated to the United Forum and circle leaders of NTR Circle and Corporate Office participated. Circle Secretaries NTR and Corporate Office made all arrangements. Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri, Convener, United Forum  inaugurated the fast. Coms. P.Abhimanyu, GS, BSNLEU, Suresh Kumar, GS, BSNLMS, R.K.Kohli, GS, NFTBE, P.Asoka Babu, Dy.GS BSNLEU, G.B.Salakki, AGS, BSNLEU, R.S.Chauhan, Org. Secretary, BSNLEU and other leaders were present and led the fast.

The relay fast will continue on 29th November.

It is reported that Supreme Court in BSNL vs Man Singh case  has ruled that the daily wagers ( casual / contract labours ) even if working for many years are not entitled to be regularised. The decision of the labour court and the High Court to the contrary has been cancelled by the Supreme Court.

We are trying to get a copy of the judgement to find out the exact judgement.

The BSNL Workers and leaders will sit on hunger strike on 28th and 29th November at SSA/Circle/C.O levels demanding immediate settlement of the charter of demands presented by them to the manage.  This is as per the call of the United Forum of BSNL Unions.

The DOT has taken a correct decision to take action against the private telcos who are sharing the 3G spectrum, thus violating the rules and conditions of the allotment.

The government should not bend to the pressure of the concerned private telecom companies. Their licence should be cancelled, penalty imposed and the licence fee confiscated.

The traders associations have called for a country- wide strike on 1st December 2011 against the decision of the central government to allow 51% FDI in the multi-brand retail trade.  The decision of the UPA government is going to destry the present retail traders and the livelihood of crores of people depending upon them.

The cabinet took the decision two days back to allow 51% in multi-brand retail and . Not only the opposition parties, but even the allies in the UPA government have expressed their strong opposition to this decision. The decision of the retail traders for ‘Bharat Vyapar Bandh’ has the support of hundreds of traders organisations throughout the country.

The implementation of FDI is left to the states . Now five states have  offered for the FDI. These are Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajastan and Orissa.

But it is certain that majority of the states are not going to accept this anti-people decision. We also demand that this decision be scrapped immediately.

The motto raised by the ‘Occupy Wall street ‘ is ‘we are 99% ‘. ‘1% is looting the people and the country’. But the facts seems to be even bitter. Among the top 1%, there is a 0.1% in whose control is the total economy and finance.

Paul Krugman, the renowned writer explains that this 0.1% is the crucial section which controls the entire system and is grabbing the maximum profits. They are mainly corporate bigwigs and financial wheel-dealers according to Paul Krugman.

On a recent analysis,  43% of the super – elite are executives at non-financial companies, 18% are in finance and another 12% are lawyers or in real estate.

The supe-elites are paying taxes, but not according to what is to be paid. They have to substantially more in taxes. The 99% should have to live and live a better life.

There are lakhs of  domestic workers who are engaged in households to do the various domestic jobs. This is one of the most exploited section of workers. They are paid very low, made to work for most of the day, harasssed and also manhandled sometimes. Women workers are molested and sexually exploited. There are no strong organisations for these workers. The exploitations are continuing.

Now the Labour Department is proposing to draft a National Policy for Domestic Workers and a draft is being prepared. It will include payment of minimum wages, normal working hours ( 8 hours), leave, provisions for social security measures like Provident Fund and Insurance etc. Certain labour acts like Minimum Wages,  Trade Union Act have to be modified accordingly.

There should not be any delay in bringing the bill with full safeguard for the workers.

Recently a new trend is seen on the part of the UPA government to ridicule, demotivate, attack  and disarm the constitutional authorities like CGA, Judiciary etc.

The comments and remarks as also the strong position taken by the Supreme Court in the  2G Spectrum scam, CWG scam, Black money issue  and other such cases has put the government in  a very delicate position.  Unable to justify its own stand, the government has started attacking the judiciary by stating that the latter should not enter the domain of the legislature.

The reports f the CAG indicting the government in the 2G, Air India, KG Basin and others have again irritated the UPA government. Even the Prime Minister indicated his displeasure stating that it (CAG) should limit the office to the role defined in the constitution. It is another matter that the CAG stated that ‘we follow the mandate given by Parliament and have not transgressed our mandate.’

The important point is that the UPA government is threatening or warning in its own was to the Supreme Court and the CAG not to make embarassments for the government.  But the common people have understood the real picture.

The New Pension Scheme for the Central and State Government employees is having a corpus of about Rs.9500 crore in its kitty. There are seven Fund Managers   appointed to manage the same viz. SBI, LIC, ICICI Prudential, UTI, IDFC, Kotak and Reliance Capital. How the Funds of the hard-earned money of the workers are being invested?

The reports in the media indicates that most of the Fund Managers have violated the conditions laid by the PFRDA. Some of them have put the funds in their own subsidiaries beyond the cap mentioned by the PFRDA. Some others have violated other conditions. It is the money of the workers and the investment should be transparent. But it is again reported that the Fund Managers are very secretive about the investments and are not prepared to divulge them.

All these reports validate the doubts and opposition raised by the trade unions. Just like the pension funds were lost in the US and Eropean countries in the 2007 recession, there is chance for loss in India also some times.

The fact that the government rejected the main three recommendations of the Parliament Standing Committee, (1) to fix a minimum assured pension (2) to allow liberal withdrawal from the fund by the suscribers and (3) fix a cap on FDI clearly indicates that there is real danger in the NPS as also the PFRDA Bill, which is now before the Parliament.

Another factor to be considered is the strong support given by the MNCs and private sector for the PFRDA Bill. The press media is full of arguments by these sections trying to paint the scheme as  very beneficial to the employees. That itself is a clear indication to whose benefits the act is being brought.

The ruling party Congress and the main opposition party BJP – both are together in bringing this anti-worker bill. Sustained struggle is the only option before the workers to get it scrapped.