Working Class

BBMP Contract Sanitation Workers Union, affiliated to AICCTU, held a rally and General Body Meeting on 30 Jan 2019 at Bangalore. At the meeting, it was resolved to fight against the contract system until it is abolished. The contract system was partially eliminated a year ago through workers struggles, however the contractor mafia is gaining backdoor entry. In light of this, the name of the union was also changed to BBMP Sanitation Workers Union, to reject 'contract' system completely.

ON the first day of the countrywide workers’ general strike on 8-9 January 2019, workers from Daikin and other companies held a rally inside the ‘Japanese Zone’ at Neemrana Industrial Area, Rajasthan. The management perpetrated a shameful attack on the workers with the help of goondas and the police, injuring dozens of workers.

RAILWAY contract workers led by AICCTU organized a rally at Allahabad on 8 January 2019 from the Loco Pilot Running Room to the office of the Senior Manager (Operations). AICCTU District Secretary Dr Kamal who led the rally said that contract workers who cook meals have been removed from their jobs for demanding wages which have not been paid for the past 3 years. The workers held dharnas regularly, but no competent authority went to talk with them.

AICCTU held a protest march from Parivartan Chowk to the District Collector’s office on 28 December 2018 against drivers of battery-operated rickshaws (e-rickshaws) and eviction of footpath vendors, and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor to the City Magistrate. The memorandum states the following demands: end oppression of e-rickshaw drivers, fix their routes and construct stands for them; stop eviction of footpath vendors and ensure them guarantee of employment and security.

The All India General Strike called by ten central trade unions and supported by many workers’ federations in finance and services sectors brought down economic and social life to a virtual halt in entire country on 8-9 January 2019. This became a complete Bharat Bandh with participation of many democratic organisations including those of students, youth, women and farmers.

AN AICCTU District level convention was organized on 3 December 2018 at the community hall in Jhumri Talaiya with the participation of delegates from all the Unions operating in the district. Present at the meeting were AICCTU State General Secretary Shubhendu Sen, Banjhedih Power Plant General Workers Union leaders comrades Vijay Paswan and Rajendra Yadav among other leaders.

SANITATION workers from across India gathered in Delhi for the National Convention on 18 November 2008 organized by AICCTU. Sanitation workers from several States including Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi participated in the convention. Present as speakers were AICCTU JNU unit President Com. Urmila Chauhan, BBMP Guttiga Powrakarmikara Sangha General Secretary Com. Nirmala, Com. Mithun Jena from the Angul District Sanitation Workers Association, All India Municipal Workers President Com.

ON November 19, 2018, Mid-Day Meal workers from all across the country gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest the Modi government's inaction with regard to their pay and work conditions. Workers from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and other states participated in the protest along with their demands. AICCTU along with other central trade unions participated in the program. They demanded raising of pay from the existing Rs.1200 per month to Rs. 18000 per month.

THE workers from the Pricol plant, as part of their ongoing strike, staged a protest in front of the firm at Periyanaickenpalayam in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday as the strike entered the 75th day. More than 300 workers belonging to Kovai Mavatta Pricol Thozhilalar Sangam (KMPTS) which is affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU) took part in the protest as the management continuously refuses to meet the demands of the workers.

ON 8th November, AICCTU affiliated Building Workers' Union, protested in front of the Delhi CM's office and submitted a memorandum demanding unemployment allowance for all construction sector workers. Workers from different parts of Delhi participated in the protest. In between huge hue and cry regarding Delhi's pollution, a big section of Delhi's poorest workers- daily wagers from construction sector, have been completely neglected.