9th June 2015

To
Shri Bandaru Dattatreya
Minister of Labour & Employment
Govt of India
Shram Shakti Bhawan
Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001

Dear Sir,

It is shocking that the Labour Ministry has issued a notification no G.S.R. (E) dated 29th April 2015 publishing draft rules to amend the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules 1946 being proposed by the Central Government inviting suggestions/objections within 45 days. The amendment aims at introducing “fixed term employment” with the unfettered right of the employer to retrench without notice and compensation. Unfortunately, the notification skipped our attention and so we could not respond immediately. And the copy of the said notification, surprisingly enough, has not been sent to the Central Trade Unions as per usual practice.

It is really shocking because, the Ministry could silently issue the said notification without consulting the Central Trade Unions and asking their opinion on such proposal having a serious bearing on the working conditions and job security of the industrial workers, before bringing it in public domain. This is gross violation of the basic norm of tripartism and CITU hereby lodges its protest against such violation.

You may please recall that before and after 29th April 2015, there had been number of meetings between the Labour Ministry and the central trade unions on various issues including on labour law amendments, wherein all officials including Labour Secretary, Joint Secretary (Labour) and also sometimes yourself as Labour Minister were present. But at no point of time, the representatives of Central Trade Unions were ever conveyed about such retrograde proposal of the Govt for reintroducing “fixed term employment” through amending the central rules under Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act.

You may also please recall that that the same provision for fixed term employment was once introduced on 10-12-2003 through Gezette Notification. Prior to such introduction, Central Trade Unions were consulted in advance and all the central trade unions opposed to such amendment. And subsequently, following widespread countrywide protests by the trade unions, the same was rescinded in 2007 or so by issuance of another Gezette Notification by the UPA Govt.

Again the same rescinded notification on imposing conditions of bonded labour on industrial workers is being sought to brought back through present proposal for amending the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules 1946. Is this the mandate of the Ministry of Labour ? Is the clock being sought to be turned backward ?

CITU records its emphatic protest against the very modality adopted by the Ministry for bypassing trade unions while pushing through retrograde changes in employment conditions through executive order. CITU also records its opposition to the proposed amendment in Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules and urges upon you to withdraw the proposal in the interests of fairness and propriety.

With regards,
Yours sincerely,

( TAPAN SEN )
General Secretary

The Secretariat of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) expresses its profound grief at the passing away of comrade Parsa Satyanarayana, veteran trade union leader and freedom fighter, on 22nd May 2015 at Eluru in Andhra Pradesh. Comrade Parsa Satyanarayana participated in the historic Telangana Armed Struggle. He was 91 and was not keeping well for some time due to old age related problems.

Comrade Parsa, as he was affectionately called, was the president of the Andhra Pradesh state committee of CITU for thirty years and also functioned as its honorary president. In his young days he worked in the Singareni coal fields when he started organising the coal workers there and became the founder leader of the Singareni Coal Workers' Union which was started during the Nizam's rule. He was the founder president of Singareni Coal Employees' Union when it was formed in 1978. For many years, Comrade Parsa was the editor of Karmikalokan, the monthly organ of CITU in Andhra Pradesh. He was the national vice president of CITU from 1994-2000.

Com Parsa was in charge of the state coordination committee of working women for long and took keen interest in its activities. He always used to encourage women cadres in the trade union movement and insisted on promoting them to leadership positions.  He was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Paloncha constituency but later resigned in support of the state wide agitation demanding the Visakha Steel Plant. He was also a member of the state secretariat of the Andhra Pradesh committee of CPI (M).

Tapan Sen
General Secretary

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) congratulates the road transport workers and their national federations for the grand success of their country wide strike today. The road transport workers have gone on a countrywide strike for the first time in the history of Independent India, demanding withdrawal of the draconian Road Transport and Safety Bill 2015.

The call for the countrywide strike was given by the national level road transport workers’ federations affiliated to CITU, AITUC, INTUC, BMS, HMS, AICCTU, LPF and independent state unions. Around 2 crore transport workers of public transport corporations, private buses, mini buses, Lorry, trucks, auto, taxi workers, workers in driving schools, auto workshops, spare parts shops, automobile workshops, school and college buses etc participated in the strike.

In West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura there was a bandh like situation. The road transport workers in West Bengal participated in the strike en masse despite the attempts of the Trinamool government in West Bengal to run the public transport buses and the physical attacks by the Trinamool goons in some parts of the state.

The strike was a total success in the public transport undertakings in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand etc. In Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha there was total strike in the private road transport sector. In Mumbai only 300 BEST buses and 10% auto rickshaws plied on the roads. There was a bandh like situation all over Maharashtra. Police arrested several CITU activists organising rasta roko in several towns in Andhra Pradesh. Massive demonstrations were organised in Jammu and Kashmir despite severe downpour. The organisations of truck owners in several states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh supported the strike.

CITU demands the BJP led government to withdraw the Bill, intended to hand over the core transport sector to the corporates, immediately and call the road transport workers’ federations for discussion.

Issued by:

(TAPAN SEN )
General Secretary

The Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) expresses its fullest support to the country wide one day strike in the Road Transport Sector on 30th April. Workers in all Sectors including Buses, Trucks, Auto-Taxis are to go on strike on that day.

Trade Unions and Federations affiliated to various Central Trade Unions along with many independent federations and unions in Road Transport sector have been conducting a campaign for the last few months against the new Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014.
The Bill contains clauses, which will result in the death knell of the existing 54 State Road Transport undertakings and the bill is aimed at handing over the Transport sector to private operators.
Various clauses proposed in the bill are against the interests of all sections – Drivers, passengers and general public. The Bill encroaches upon the rights of the State Governments and some State Governments have openly criticized the bill and asked for changes. Many Governmental functions like Registration, licensing etc. are being handed over to private sector.
The joint platform of unions have submitted detailed memorandums to Government, conducted extensive campaigns in the State including a massive Parliament March of Transport Workers on 18th December 2014.
It is in this situation, the union have jointly decided to go for a one day protest strike on 30th April 2015.
CITU fully endorses the demands of the Joint platform of Transport Sector Unions and extends full support to the strike.
CITU calls upon all sections of workers and general public to extend their support to the strike.

Issued by
(A.K. Padmanabhan)
President

9th April 2015

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions condemns the barbaric killings of 20 labourers in the Seshachalam forest in Andhra Pradesh by the AP Police on 7th April 2015 in the name of encounter with sandal-wood smugglers. CITU calls upon the workers and the trade unions to raise their voice of protest against such police-brutality.

As the information and reports pouring in media, the so called encounter is a completely fake one. Labourers hired for cutting wood were killed in cold blood by the state Police to camouflage and cover-up their failure to contain the increasing menace of smuggling of red sanders. This is simply inhuman as well as heinous on the part of state administration that their abject failure to contain the smuggling or capture the smugglers is being sought to be camouflaged by brutal killings of the poor labourers hired for cutting woods in the forest.

CITU demands a judicial enquiry in to the incident of such heinous killings and demands upon the State Government to pay adequate compensation to the families of the victims of police brutality.

Issued by

Tapan Sen 
General Secretary

On the occasion of May Day 2015, CITU extends warm greetings to the working class and toiling people of the entire world and expresses solidarity to their ongoing struggle against exploitation let loose against them by the neoliberal capitalist order. On this International Day of working class solidarity and unity, CITU reasserts its firm commitment to the goal of socialism and socialist ideals and its firm resolve to continue its fight for ending the exploitative regime.

Solidarity to Struggles Worldwide

The growing discontent and anger against the impact of the imperialist dictated neoliberal policy regime is reflected in the rising surge of struggles everywhere. Engulfed in severe continuing crisis, the world capitalist order have become more desperate and aggressive in passing on the entire burden of crisis on the working people through more vigorous and atrocious onslaughts on their rights and livelihood. Working class all over the world is engaged in bitter struggles against such attacks. The entire world has been reverberating with militant strikes and mobilisations with the participation of hundreds of thousands of workers across Europe, the USA, Asia, Arica and Latin America. More and more people are raising their voice against the most obscene disparity and inequality imposed on them. On this May Day 2015, CITU, while carrying on its own struggles, gathers immense strength and inspiration from those struggles of the working people surging worldwide.

Against Imperialism

On this international day of working class solidarity, CITU reiterates its commitment to fight against imperialism and its aggressive machinations on the developing countries including ours. During the intervening period since May Day 2014, the imperialist powers led by US administration have become much more aggressive as well as aggressionist in its hegemonic ploy on the developing resource rich countries. Middle East and Latin America are bearing the brunt of their machinations. Such hegemonic intervention by imperialist powers is integral to the machinations of the neoliberal economic order being sought to be imposed on the humanity by the international finance capital. It is continuing with its military and other types of interventions to subvert popular governments in developing countries, to gain control over their natural resources including oil and gas and establish its dominance over strategic regions. The working class in these countries is engaged in bitter struggles against such imperialist machinations and also against the onslaughts on their livelihood and rights through so called ‘austerity measures’ and various other means by their respective ruling classes compromising with imperialism. We must note here that the heroic peoples of Latin America, with socialist Cuba in the forefront have been showing the way of building massive people’s movement against these imperialist offensives. The commencement of the process of re-establishment of diplomatic relations between USA and Cuba clearly signals the retreat of US administration which we all must rejoice.

CITU firmly upholds the principle that the fight against imperialism is an integral part of class struggle against exploitation. It reiterates its strong commitment and support to anti imperialist struggles across the world and to undertake with priority the task of heightening anti-imperialist consciousness as well as the consciousness of international solidarity in the working class movement in India.

Solidarity to Socialist Countries

CITU greets the working class of all the socialist countries and extends its solidarity with their struggles in defence of socialism in their countries. On the occasion of this May Day, CITU reaffirms its confidence that all attempts of the counter revolutionary forces and imperialist conspiracies to undermine socialism and restore capitalism will be defeated by the working class and the people in the socialist countries.

CITU reasserts its support to the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people for their motherland and against illegal occupation of their land by Israel with the open support of the USA, defying world opinion. CITU demands the recognition of an independent sovereign state of Palestine with 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital.

On this day of International solidarity of the working class, which falls in the seventieth year of the World Federation of Trade Unions, the CITU, while upholding the praiseworthy continuing initiative of WFTU in championing the cause of struggle against imperialist driven neoliberal order, calls upon the working class in general and its affiliate unions in particular to observe the seventieth year of WFTU through various programmes of educative campaign and organize the world action day on 3rd October 2015 in a befitting manner.

Global Crisis
Despite all noises on recovery, there has been no respite from the global economic crisis for the workers and the common people. The response of the capitalist class to this crisis is paving way for a more destructive crisis. The burdens of the global crisis are being passed on to the common people by imposing the so called austerity measures and curbing their hard won rights and benefits. At the same time huge concessions and tax exemptions are being extended to the corporates and financial institutions responsible for the crisis. Working people across the world, in the developed as well as developing countries is specifically targeted for such attacks including curbing of labour rights, cuts in jobs, wages, pensions, health care, and other benefits. The number of the working poor is increasing phenomenally reflecting deterioration in quality of work and menacing exploitation. Unemployment, particularly among youth and more so among educated youth has been on the rise to an alarming proportion.

In India

The challenges being faced by the toiling people of our country are inseparably linked with this continuing crisis of neoliberal capitalist order on a global scale. Struggle against this inhuman order along with its manifestation on the life and living of the people, on the national economy, on the society and on the polity must have to be built on this basic understanding. Then only our movemental initiative can be dovetailed towards our goal of transformation of the exploitative system engulfed into a deep systemic crisis. On this May Day, CITU pledges to direct all its initiative in developing this understanding among the widest section of working people.

While extending solidarity to the ongoing struggles of the entire toiling class, the workers, peasants, agricultural workers, students, youth, women and others against the grievous onslaught of the crisis ridden neoliberal economic policy regime on their rights and lives, CITU aspires, on the occasion of this May Day, 2015, to channelize such assertion among all sections of society into a united struggle of the entire people against this destructive policy regime as well as the political operators of such regime.

CITU notes with great interest the visible organised expression of anguish among the peasantry and agricultural workers against the deepening agrarian crisis affecting their lives and also against the notorious Land Acquisition Ordinance by the BJP Govt at the centre designed to forcibly grab lands from the farmers in favour of corporates, both domestic and foreign. It extends its wholehearted support to such uprising struggles and calls upon the working class to mobilize in a big way in support of their struggle. It will pave the way for a peoples’ struggle against neoliberal order.

On this May Day, CITU extends its support and solidarity to the brave workers and people of West Bengal who have been heroically fighting the barbaric attacks of the Trinamool goondas. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has let loose inhuman attacks on all democratic institutions including trade unions and the organisations of peasants, students, youth and women, particularly targeting those close to the Left parties. Hundreds of Left cadres including trade union activists, and Left supporters have been killed, thousands have been forced to leave their villages and take shelter far away, women are being raped, offices of trade unions and kisan-sabha etc are forcefully captured or burnt. These attacks should be seen not only as attacks on the Left but on the democracy as a whole. In almost all elections right from municipal elections to elections in the cooperative societies, TMC goons supported by the lumpenised state administration capture the booths and loot the votes depriving the electorates of their rights. The democratic people of West Bengal led by the Left parties are heroically fighting such atrocities facing murders, rapes and arsons and brutalities of all kinds. CITU is an integral part of that struggle and will continue to fight in defence of democracy and rights of the common people.

All round attack on the toiling people

The country now under the BJP-led Govt at the centre, is witnessing an all round attack on the labour right of the workers and land-right of the farmers; attack on wages and livelihood of the working people who create wealth for the nation and also attack on remunerative prices for the farmers who produces food for the people; attack on social security right in the form of doing away with the employees provident fund scheme and diverting a part of the fund for speculation in share market, doing away with ESI though converting the same into a insurance scheme under IRDA; drastic cut on social sector expenditure and allocation on welfare schemes like ICDS, Mid-day-meal, NRHM, MNREGA with the motive of finally doing away with such pro-people schemes and programmes altogether. The union Budget (2015-16) of this BJP Govt has laid bare the most cruel onslaught on the common people, both in cities and villages, in industries, services and agriculture under deceptive sound-bites on development, investment and employment generation which is never to materialize except aggravating the loot on the people and country’s resources and exchequers by the corporate and big-business lobby, both domestic and foreign and engineering fraud on the people and the states.

Simultaneously with budget, the Govt of the day has launched a plunderous attack on the natural resources and national assets of the country. Ordinances have been promulgated for denationalization of coal-mining sector, deregulation of the other mineral resources through auction route totally unconcerned and unmindful of the livelihood and rights of the local and tribal population, forest dwellers and labour-rights of the miners, and privatization and deregulation of the Insurance sector, and also the changing Land Acquisition Act to grab land from farmers without consent in favour of corporate and big business lobby. Onslaught of privatisation and disinvestment of public sector units, vital infrastructure and public utility services is going on in full swing; major ports of the country are being corporatized to pave the way for privatisation. The entire modus operandi of the Govt at the centre in pushing through these so called reforms-exercise, both in forms, method and content, signals a consistent affront on the democratic processes, institutions and structure bearing ominous portends for the democracy as a whole.

An aggressive exercise has been going to completely alter the existing labour laws like Factories Act, Industrial Disputes Act, Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, all wages related legislations etc in favour of the employers with the ultimate aim of pushing overwhelming majority of the country’s workforce out of protection and purview of all labour laws and completely dismantling the entire labour-law-enforcement machinery. Never before, the working people of the country, who create GDP for the nations, generate resource for the national exchequer and also produce profit for the employers are faced with such heinous, atrocious all round attacks on their rights, lives and livelihood.

Along with such overhauling exercise on labour laws in favour of their masters in the capitalist lobby, the Govts of the day both at the centre and the states have been directly patronizing the ongoing attacks on the workers in various workplaces through mass scale contractorisation, non-payment of statutory minimum wages and social security benefits, lock-outs, closures, retrenchment and atrocities in various other forms, none of which cannot stand the test of law. When the Govt has been shouting at top-voice on its promises on employment generations, workers in numerous establishments including MNCs, IT sector mostly in the age-group of 25 to 40 years have been losing jobs in several thousands as being witnessed in Nokia, Foxconn, TCS, I-gate etc. The real employment scenario in the country is that, more people are losing jobs than new opportunities created, regular workers are replaced by casual and temporary workers with working conditions of virtual slavery. Should a civilized society put up with such all round degeneration in quality of life being perpetrated by the corporate servile BJP-regime ?

Unifying the Class, Preserving Unity of the Toiling People
Fighting Communal and Divisive Forces
Fighting Social Oppression

Heightening the united struggle and for that unifying the entire toiling class through that process is the urgent need of the hour and CITU reasserts its pledge on this May Day to work in that direction. This task assumed great importance in the face of a party with rabid communal ideology running the country’s governance.

Along with such atrocious onslaught on the national economy, natural resources, national assets and on the life and livelihood of the common people, workers, peasants and agricultural workers, the BJP-led regime with its parallel network of RSS bandwagons has been spitting venoms on the unilty and tranquility of the society through its communal and divisive machinations through its “ghar wapsi” and other progrommes in order to divide people and divert the attention from its anti-people designs of “pay back” or “dhan-wapsi” to their corporate donors cum masters. This is nothing but a heinous conspiracy to sustain its policy of loot and plunder on the national economy and the people without any hurdles.

And such communal divisive machinations on the society with active Govt-patronage acts in promoting divisive forces of various hues and aggravating social oppression on dalits and downtrodden and under present regime they are already on the rise threatening unity of people. In fact, the neoliberal policies have in fact accentuated their oppression and the communal divisive provocation by the RSS-BJP bandwagon with Govt-patronage has further aggravated the situation creating ground for raising of head by so called identity politics of various brands, acting to fragment the society in different conflicting directions.

In such a situation, the task of unifying the working class in its entirety has become multi-dimensional and consistent fight against the communal and divisive forces from the independent platform of CITU and conscious initiative against all kinds of social oppression from the class-platform have become integral to such multidimensional task along with intensifying the united struggle against the onslaught of the ruling class. CITU pledges to undertake this task with a comprehensive approach with renewed vigour.

Carry the United Struggle to Further Height  
Protest Must Be Elevated to Resistance

Such grave anti-people and anti national design of loot and plunder on the nation and imposing slavery on the people must be resolutely resisted by the united working class movement to save the workers, save the people and save the country. This is the clarion call of May Day 2015. Already joint actions including strikes have taken place in various sectors like coal, banks, insurance etc. Joint struggles including strikes have been planned in many other sectors including road transport, construction, BSNL and postal-services in the coming months. CITU extends total support to all these struggles. The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions have already demonstrated their united opposition through observance of protest day on 5th December 2014 and mass countrywide satyagraha and court arrest on 26th February 2015.

Given the aggressiveness of all round atrocious attack on the working people and the national economy, the aggressive auctioneering mode in respect of vital national assets, infrastructure, PSUs and public utility services like electricity etc, the notorious design of forcible land grabbing from the farmers, not only dislodging farmers but the agricultural workers and agrarian population as a whole, the present level of protest programmes by the joint platform of central trade unions and federations must be heightened to a struggle of determined resistance by the working class and the toiling people from all sectors. Countrywide militant strike action is the urgent need of the hour which will unleash similar resistance action in every sector of the economy, both in cities and villages, factories and farms, services and sites throughout the country. The designs of auctioning cum mortgaging the country’s economy and imposing slavery on the people cannot be allowed to pass.

Appeal of May Day 2015

CITU appeals to the working class in the country to develop solidarity across industries, sectors and states to defeat the attacks on their rights, on their livelihoods and lives.

On this May Day CITU appeals to the entire working class to strengthen unity at the grass root level and heighten the struggle against the neoliberal regime to take it to a decisive stage to defeat these policies and also the politics behind them. CITU appeals to all sections of the toiling people to join this struggle.

On this May Day CITU appeals to the entire working class to be vigilant against any attempts to divide the working class and disrupt unity in whatever name – religion, caste, community, language, territory or gender. Unity and struggle are our weapons in our fight against oppression and exploitation.

Long Live International Solidarity of the Working Class
Unite Against Exploitation and Oppression
Down with Capitalism and Imperialism
Down with Imperialist led Neoliberal Globalisation
Long Live Socialism
Workers of the World Unite

22nd April 2015

CITU congratulates the 2.25 lakhs of employees of BSNL, including 40,000 executives for their successful countrywide united strike for 48 hours on 21st and 22nd April 2015.
The strike call given by the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations, an umbrella organization of all the unions and association of employees and executives. It was after 4 months of their strike notice, they have gone on strike.
The issues raised by the Forum are the issues of saving the public sector telecom enterprise which is being derided of all support from the Government and at the same time the private players in the sector are favoured and supported.
It is unfortunate that the employees of a telecom PSU are forced to go on a 48 hour strike for procurement of equipments like mobile lines, broadband modem etc. All the demands including filling up of vacancies are aimed at strengthening the enterprise.
It is condemnable that the concerned Minister or the Department Secretary did not even call the unions for a discussion on their demands.
CITU urges the Government to take necessary steps to save this crucial PSU. CITU assures all support to the employees and executives in their struggle in defence of the PSU and calls upon them to be prepared for united actions of all public sector employees in defence of public sector undertakings in the country.
Issued by,

(A K PADMANABHAN)
President

CITU congratulates the working Class of India for the successful National Protest Day on 5th December 2014. In a show of class unity, the working class of   India had proved its readiness to face the open challenge  to it by the Modi Government.

{phocagallery view=category|categoryid=12|
imageid=0|limitstart=0|limitcount=6|
fontcolor=#B88A00|bgcolor=#FFBF00|bgcolorhover=#BFFF00|imagebgcolor=#FFD24D|
bordercolor=#B88A00|bordercolorhover=#86B300|
detail=8|displayname=1|displaydetail=1|displaydownload=0|float=left}

19th November, 2014

CITU condemns handing over new Thermal Plant of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to the private Sector Tata Power.

DVC, a Central Public Sector Undertaking, has set up a Thermal Power Plant in the district of Purulia, West Bengal, viz., Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station. The first unit of this Thermal Power Plant whose capacity is 600 MW has already been commissioned. Construction of the second phase of this project has already started whose capacity will be 1200 MW.

DVC has already spent more than Rs.6,000 crores for the construction of the first phase of the project. 900 acres of land was acquired by the State Government and it was handed over to the DVC for the construction of the Power Plant. The Central Government has now decided to hand over the Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station to the private sector Tata Power. This is nothing, but virtual gift of a newly constructed Public Sector Power Plant to private Sector by frittering away public funds for private interest. When DVC has the capacity and capability to run this unit why it is being handed over to Tata? The land was acquired for DVC’s project and not for the Tata. The decision to hand over the Public Sector Unit to a private sector company is in accordance with the policy of the present government.

CITU deplores such move and demands that the decision taken by the DVC Board at the direction of Government of India must be reversed and the Power Plant must remain in the Public Sector under DVC. CITU also demands that the government must desist from such handing over of public sector units and public funds to private sector for promoting private gains.

Issued by,
TAPAN SEN
GENERAL SECRETARY

The Secretariat of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has issued the following statement to the media:

Despite repeated resolute united opposition by Coal workers against any step by Government to denationalize coal industry, disinvestment, allowing commercial coal mining by domestic or foreign private companies, undermine the public sector character of Coal India Limited (CIL), any step to restructure the CIL; the Government of India has promulgated “The Coal Mines (Special Provision) Ordinance to primarily denationalize coal industry through Section 28 of the Act. The Ordinance provided power to the Government to allow private companies to enter into private commercial mining. This provision amounts to steps towards denationalization of coal industry in our country.

It is a matter of humiliation and indignation that the Government has atrociously violated the assurance given to the trade unions in CIL for discussion on the matter and gone for unilateral action totally ignoring the united highly appreciable stand of the unions. In the meantime outsourcing/contractualisation/private agency system in coal mining has been expanding in the industry without paying any heed to the opposition of the coal workers.

CITU has been extending active support to the struggles of the coal workers from time to time on the aforementioned demands. CITU is of the firm opinion that the coal workers have been demonstrating important sense of national responsibility for safeguarding the energy interest of the country by opposing the disastrous acts of the Government.

In view of this, CITU strongly feels that the Government has pushed the coal workers into a situation under which there is no other alternative but to go for strike. CITU, therefore, extends full support to the decision of Coal workers to go for one day’s Token Strike on 24th November 2014 to put pressure on the Government to withdraw the derogatory ordinance and protect the national energy assets and to safeguard the public sector entity of Maharatna CIL

CITU appeals to each and every regular and contractual coal workers as well as the employees of CIL to actively join the proposed strike action and compel the Government to give up their scheme of handing over the coal sector of the country to domestic and foreign private coal companies which is bound to not only destroy the national coal industry but also will have adverse cascading impact on the entire energy sectors in the country. CITU further appeals to all public sector industry workers to extend solidarity support to the strike action. CITU Secretariat directs all concerned State Committees to mobilize all out support to the campaign and the strike action.

Issued by

(Swadesh Dev Roye)

Secretary