All-India General Strike: 28-29 March 2022

Strike

 

  • Save the People and Save the Nation!
  • Save Workers, Save Employment, Save Rights! Save Nation’s Resources, Save Public Sector!
  • Save Agriculture, Save Peasantry!
  • Uphold Worker-Peasant Unity! Thwart Modi Regime’s Divisive, Communal Designs!
  • Defeat the Modi led Company Raj! Free India from the Clutches of Modi-shahi!
  • Work to Every Hand; Same Wages for Same Work!
  • For Scrapping 4 Labour Codes, Against record-high unemployment, skyrocketing Price-rise, Privatisation and sale of the nation’s resources
  • Resist the attack on the Constitution and Democracy

The Modi regime has been waging unrelenting attacks on the rights, lives and livelihood of the working class of the country. Destructive policies are the hallmark of Modi Regime. The democracy and constitution are being bulldozed, secular fabric of the country is being torn apart. In response, working masses are braving the onslaughts with a determined resistance. The one-year long historic farmers struggle has decisively forced the arrogant Modi government to repeal 3 farm Laws, which were enacted to hand over the entire agriculture sector to corporates and ruin the peasantry. Their determined struggle continues to press upon their hitherto unfulfilled demands (and now, the killer of farmers in Lakhimpur Khiri Ashish Mishra has also been let free on bail). Last year (2021) ended with a massive, successful strike on 16-17 December by ten lakhs of bank employees against privatisation of banks forcing the Modi government to defer the tabling of the Bank Privatisation Bill in winter session of the Parliament. The resistance against privatisation has become an omnipresent phenomenon. The outburst of anger of unemployed youth is widespread. Various sections of informal workers from honorarium to contract workers are on path of determined struggles including strikes. Now, the entire working class of the country, on the call of platform of 10 central trade unions, has decided to go on a 2 days all-India general strike on 28-29 March in continuation of its persistent struggle against the onslaught.

Attacks on Working Class under the Modi Regime

Repeating slogans and promises by the Modi government - ‘Achche Din’ (good times), ‘Sabka Sath - Sabka Vikas’, etc. have already became a mockery. Rather, the Modi govt. has become a synonym of devastation and destruction. Under Modi Regime, while crores of working people have been further drowned into poverty and hunger, the few super rich have increased their wealth by billions, with 1% possessing 77% property of the nation. Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, added Rs. 90 crore per hour to his wealth even in the times of lockdown. And yet, lakhs of migrant workers are still reeling under the impact of destruction of lives and livelihood they faced due to cruel and sudden lockdown during the first wave of Covid. The frontline workers against Covid, particularly lakhs of ASHA workers, are feeling betrayed at the hands of the central and state governments. Leaving the working people to lurch under miseries, the Modi government has done nothing to financially support them in the times of Corona, not even attempting to fulfil its promises. When the country was witnessing the procession of deaths, particularly during 2nd wave of Corona, mainly for want of Oxygen and medical facilities exposing the criminal apathy and ignorance of the govt. towards the people, the government was using Corona crisis as an opportunity to strengthen its ‘Sath and Vikas’ of corporate and super-rich and pushed the working people into penury and slavery.

Again, contrary to the promise of providing ‘2 crore employment every year’, the policies of Modi government, including Notebandi (demonetisation), has led to mass destruction of employment and livelihood amounting to more than 20 crore job losses in just last few years, with retrenchment and closure becoming the norm of the day. Lakhs of vacant sanctioned posts in government departments are not being filled. Despite the much hyped mantra of development ‘Make in India’, the MNCs are closing their production in India, rendering large number of workers jobless. Crores of unorganized workers are forced to survive on starvation wages and uncertainty of work. And to rub the salt on their wounds, the government in order to facilitate corporates to make profits, deliberately let the prices of fuel (diesel, petrol, gas, etc.) skyrocket leading to all round, back-breaking price rise.

With the Modi government's flashy words, misleading talks and high-sounding jargons, central budget 2022-23 has come as another blow on the hardworking people of the country. Workers lives are being devasted because of ever rising unemployment, inflation, loss of income and wages. The drastic decline of economy is only adding fuel to the fire. Instead of getting the working people out of this crisis and suffering, this budget is only digging deeper holes into their pockets. When the common people are actually being devastated in this "Vishkaal" (Era of miseries), the Modi government is shamelessly calling it "Amrit Kaal" (Nectar Era). This budget is offering nothing but "poison" for labourers-farmers and "nectar" for corporates.

While the employers are always given free hand to flout labour laws, now the Modi government has done away with all labour laws themselves and replaced them with 4 Labour Code Acts and is all set to implement them. These codes are nothing but Codes of Workers’ slavery, enacted to facilitate the   corporate mantra of ‘Ease of Doing Business’. They will snatch away the right to unionise and collective bargaining, right to legal minimum wages, right to social security and occupational safety, legalisation of “hire and fire” and insecurity of jobs through “fixed term employment”, further aggravate the precarious and unsafe conditions of women workers, etc. The government claims that they are the “New Codes for a New India” but actually they are the “New Codes for a Corporate India”.

Under Modi government, the rampant drive of privatisation (and now, LIC has also been thrown open) of all PSUs and government departments has culminated into the “free sale” of national assets and natural resources to the likes of Ambanis, Adanis and Tatas through the policy of “National Monetisation Pipeline” (NMP). This policy package of India’s sale will not only lead to the destruction of the infrastructural assets built through decades of hard toil of the people of country, but at the same time, will also be a devastation of their lives and livelihood including taking away constitutional right of reservation in government jobs for Dalits, tribals and other downtrodden sections of society. It will make all essential services - from health and education to transport and power - very costly and thus inaccessible to the people.

So, Modi’s ‘Minimum government and Maximum governance’ has turned out to be ‘No Government and Only Corporates’. It is waging a war on working people to serve its corporate masters.

To aggressively push its pro-corporate agenda, Modi govt. is crushing even the right to dissent and protest by establishing a “Raj of Repression and Repressive Acts”. Modi’s Raj has become an era of undeclared emergency. It is hell bent on systematically and aggressively pushing its trade mark agenda of communal polarization, the latest example being fomenting communal hatred under the pretext of Dharam Sansads organized under the patronage of RSS-BJP and also in the course of ongoing election campaign of BJP in U.P.

Gear up to make Strike a great Success

AICCTU calls upon the working class in the country to make 28-29 March 2022 two days strike a grand success. Samyukt Kisan Morch has already pledged its support, to the call of strike by the working class, upholding worker-peasant unity developed through farmers’ historic struggle. AICCTU calls upon the entire toiling masses, agricultural workers and farmers, student, youth and women to give all-out support to the call of strike. Only through the people’s united struggles, the bulldozing by Modi Government on livelihood and rights of people can be stopped. Let us come together to smash the communal and divisive designs of the Modi-Shah Regime, to powerfully assert the essential issues of bread and jobs, basic rights and democracy and to reverse the destructive policies of the Modi government.

Strike Charter

  1. Stop Rising Unemployment, Retrenchment and Closure! Arrest Skyrocketing Price-Rise!
  2. Scrap 4 Labour Codes! NO to 12-hr. work-day! Withdraw Essential Defence Service Act! Guarantee Labour Rights and Regularization and Equal Pay for Equal Work!
  3. Guarantee Jobs and Right to Employment! Revive and Re-start Sick and Closed Industries and Plantations! Strengthen NREGA and Ensure work to all needy people! Extend this Act to the urban poor.
  4. Stop Privatisation including 100% FDI and Corporatisation! Withdraw National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)!  Withdraw Electricity (Amendment) Bill!
  5. Guarantee Statutory Minimum Wages and Social Security to all Scheme/Honorarium Workers! Insurance and Protection to every frontline worker!   
  6. Stop Cuts in Wages and Social Security! Implement 26,000/- Minimum Monthly Wage and 10,000/- monthly Pension! Withdraw NPS and Restore OPS!
  7. Rs. 10,000/- per month Income Support and Free Ration to all unorganized including agricultural and rural workers! Strengthen PDS and Food Security!
  8. Withdraw all cases against farmers! Sack the Minister of State (Home) Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’! Ensure legal guarantee of MSP!
  9. Repeal Sedition Law, UAPA and all Draconian Laws; Free all political prisoners.

Unite to Fight! Fight to Win!