RESOLUTION ON Ratification of ILO Conventions The 39th National Session of the AITUC meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on the 2nd to 5th December 2008 notes That the Govt. of India though being a founder member of ILO and holding a non-elective seat of the Governing Body has so far ratified only four out of the 8 Core Conventions and the most important Core Conventions No. 98 Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining are not yet ratified by India. That the year 2008 is the 60th year of the Conventions No.87 having being adopted in 1948 and the other important Convention No.98 was adopted in 1949 and the membership of ILO, pre-supposes formal acceptance of the obligation of its constitution, which proclaims the principle of Freedom of Association. That according to the ILO Survey on availability of Collective Bargaining to workers of different countries (ILO Report 2004) it is only 2% in India. That in the aftermath of the collapse of market drivers finance capital dominated economic policies of globalization, liberalization and privatization, the workers face further attacks on this job, wages and rights besides the increase of violation of several labour laws and the formation of trade unions are resisted by the employers, thus it is all the more necessary that the Core. Conventions of ILO, besides many others concerning Occupational Safety and Health etc. have to be immediately ratified and the laws are framed and enforced strictly. The AITUC Session urges upon the Government of India to immediately ratify all Core Conventions of ILO and fix up a time-frame for ratification of the other Conventions, at the earliest possible time. AITUC also resolves to launch national and regional campaigns, sensitize all concerned and bring pressure on the Govt. in ratifying the ILO Conventions and incorporation-the provisions under various statues. ***** RESOLUTION IN SOLIDARITY WITH 2.5 LAKH JUTE WORKERS STRIKE IN WEST BENGAL 39th Session of All India Trade Union Congress supports and expresses solidarity with the struggle of 2.5 lakh workers of 59 jute mills in West Bengal who are on indefinite strike w.e.f December 1,2008 at the call of jute Workers Federations including AITUC affiliated Federation of Chatkal Mazdoor Union to realize their long pending demands including the unrealized part of dearness allowance, for permanency, against default in payment of PF, ESI, Gratuity. The Jute mills, a profiting, traditional, labour intensive industry manufacturing jute products utilizing the golden fiber and are the life line of the industrial complex in the state. The mill owners however refrain from investing even a small part of their profit for the modernization of the industry in order to improve the quality of the products; violates the labour laws with immunity, avoid taxes; default in the payment of statutory dues. More than 60% of jute products are purchased by the Central Govt. and they pay all the labour costs including DA & other statutory benefits though the mill owners do not pay the same to the workers. The Central Govt. however do not take any steps against the delinquent mill owners. When the production in the mills is enhanced the manpower is reduced thus ensuring fabulous profit to the mill owners. Thousands of workers are forced to work in jute industry without their names recorded in the live register. The jute workers are forced to strike their work on account of the default of the jute barons in fulfilling their earlier agreements and assurances on above at the bipartite and or at tripartite level. It may be recalled that about the year ago the jute workers in WB, had to observe 63 days strike for implementation of tripartite agreement. 39th Session calls upon the workers to stand solidly besides the jute workers to make their struggle victorious. ****** RESOLUTION AGAINST THE POWER POLICY, ELECTRICITY ACT-2003 AND DISMANTLING OF THE STATE ELECTRICITY BOARDS OF THE COUNTRY The evil impact of the Indian Electricity Act-2003 is effectively briefed in the report of the General Secretary is its seriousness. Staring from 1996 and after enactment of the Electricity Act 2003 till now 13 States Electricity Board i.e. Orissa, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, U.P., Rajastan, Gujarat, Assam, M.P., Maharashtra, Uttarakhand. Delhi and West Bengal have been either unbundled or have been privatized. The Govt. of India is pressuring the left out states to unbundle the Electricity Boards at the earliest. The Central Govt. attempts threatening the State Governments through the Power Ministry to deny them funds for the accelerated power development and the Rajiv Gandhi Village Electrification Scheme. Because of the steep resistance by the employees the pace of dismantling and privatization of the power sector is slow and they could not succeed in their attempt to turn the entire power industry from public sector to private sector. The state Electricity Boards are existing in states like Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Kerala. The implementation of Act is going to result in violent enhancement of undermined of electrification facilities no to speak of the attendant miseries to different segments of the society. The stand alone system, disconnection of power supply Tom grid will result into total denial of power to rural India. The future status of social Security measures like Pension, Provident Fund and other accrued conditions of service applicable to the employees are at a stake and there is no guarantee as to how their interests would be protected. The basic sector is indiscriminately subjected to outright privatization and the Governments wedded to neo liberal economic policy are bent upon enforcing the conditions of the Act with vengeance in the states of their control. The appropriate review of the controversial act figured an item in the common minimum programme also In spite of the stated sequence of developments, the Central Govt. and State Govt. including West Bengal have also conveniently toed in line with the same policy adopted by the Central Govt. It is astonishing to note that the governments have even gone forward to the extend of hailing the merits of the Act placing the people and the affected workmen in a state of embarrassment. The power workmen in general are genuinely agonized by the governments as they have disowned the interests of the working class and the common people by acting upon the anti-people and ant-worker conditionalities of the inglorious Electricity Act of 2003. The present scenario urgently warrants a coherent united endeavor by the whole working class of India to launch incessant and virulent struggles to repulse the inglorious Electricity Act to preserve and perpetuate the basic interests of common man and affected working class. Therefore, the 39th National Conference of the AITUC strongly demands withdrawal of the Electricity Act, 2003 and the policy of unbundling and privatization of electricity industry as a whole which is anti people, anti-farmer and anti-national power policy. This Session resolves to appeal the whole power workmen all over the country to take up the challenge with determination for change in policy of the Central Government. ****** RESOLUTION ONNATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE The 39th Session of the All India Trade Union Congress held at Thiruvananthapuram from 2nd to 5th December 2008 notes with deep concern that even after more than 60 years of independence; the Central Government have failed to formulate any criteria for fixing minimum wages. The result is that minimum wages sharply differ within in State and within the industry and from state to state & from industry to industry. The unorganized workers who do not enjoy protection of labour laws are worst affected particularly because they are not allowed unionization. Since their wages are not indexed, rising prices erode their wages causing serious pauperization. What is worse, even the minimum wages fixed in various states are violated on massive scale by employers with impunity. No action is taken against them even when complaints are lodged. In the unorganized sector, women are employed in large numbers. Their condition is worse than their male counterparts because they are discriminated in the matter of payment of wages. They get less wages than their male counterparts. The norms evolved by the 15th Indian Laboy Conference in 1957 for fixing minimum wages have not been enforced by the Government deliberately under the pressure of employers. No action have been taken to implement the famous judgement of the Supreme Court in Raptakos Brett & Co Ltd, to the effect that minimum wages must be based on social justice and should include expenditure on account of children’s education, medical requirements, minimum recreation including festivals, ceremonies, provision for old age, marriage etc. which should be 25% of total minimum wage. The 39th Session calls upon AITUC to take initiative to launch a sustained mass campaign throughout the country together with other Trade Unions, in order to realize progressively the minimum wages based on the norms of the 15th ILC and the Supreme Court judgement. ***** RESOLUTION ON BANKING INDUSTRY The 39th National Session of the AITUC being held in Thiruvananthapuram during 2nd – 5th December notes: · That the expansion and contribution of the public sector bank in the last four decades in a world record, deposits and advances of RS.4665 crores and 3609 crores and Rs.17,97,505 crores respectively and contributed to agriculture, rural development, employment generation, small & medium industries, infrastructure development, health, education poverty alleviation etc. · That in the name of ‘Banking Sector Reforms’ under the policies of neo-liberal globalization, and the compulsions of the WTO and international finance capital, the Govt. of India has been perusing the policies which adversely affect the growth, strength and role of the nationalized banks, such as (i) reducing the Govts.’s share and allowing more than more private capital of Corporate /FIs/FIIs in public Sector Banks (ii) proposed merger of Public Sector Banks and allow EDI in Banks even upto 74% (iii) reduction of bad loans NPA through write offs, interest waivers, compromise etc. instead of taking stringent actions against the defaulters (iv) outsourcing of regular and normal banking jobs (v) reducing interest on small deposits & savings and giving higher and preferential rates of interest to the corporates (vi) shrinking the controlling, monitoring and supervising role of RBI etc. · That the entire bank employees and officers of the nationalized banks have been consistently campaigning, organizing and agitating to cancel the adverse and retrograde policies and proposals of the Government and also against the various govt. sponsored committee such as Tarapore Committee, Raghuram Rajan Committee, Anwarul Hooda Committee. The AITUC’s National Conference congratulates and fully supports the struggle of the Bank employees against privatization, outsourcing, merger and as well as the ‘Banking Reforms’ proposed by the Govt. and towards strengthening and expanding public sector banks which have firmly withstood the crisis face by the foreign and Indian Private banks in the recent melt down under the reckless market economy. |
