MEETING at Delhi on January 31 and February 1, the national Secretariat of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) called upon all its affiliates to conduct countrywide campaigns and agitations on two important issues confronting a large number of workers in the country. The meeting took note of the fact that despite being discussed in the highest level tripartite meetings and consensus based decisions having been taken, the government of India has been refusing to take steps to control the increasing exploitation of workers under the ever growing contract system. It is also a fact that public sector is no less responsible than the private sector for this cruel system of exploitation. While the labour department of the government of India had accepted the necessity of amending the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, the governmental machinery has been inactive in taking steps towards implementation of that decision. Struggles are being conducted in various sectors in different parts of the country by the contract workers. More than 50 or 60 percent of the workers in the organised sector in the country are now under the contract system. They are not getting proper wages and are also without various statutory benefits. The CITU Secretariat has decided to conduct a weeklong intensive campaign from February 15 to 21; this will culminate in state level demonstrations, rallies and other forms of mobilisation on February 20 or 21. ON SCHEME WORKERS In May 2013, the 45th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) had reached a consensus on the demands of more than one crore workers engaged in various schemes of the government of India. In the schemes run by various state governments also, such workers are there in large numbers. The government has refused to take follow up actions on the ILC’s and other decisions which are for recognising them as workers, and fixation of minimum wages, pension and other social security benefits for all the scheme workers. A weeklong intensive campaign on these demands will be conducted from February 10 to 17 through demonstrations and rallies in all the states. In the meantime, the mid-day meal workers are going to organise a massive demonstration before the parliament on February 13, in protest against non-implementation of the assurance given to them about an increase in their wages. Workers from the nearby states will be participating in this demonstration. ON WOMEN’S DAY, MARCH 8 The CITU Secretariat has asked all its state committees, federations and unions to vigorously observe March 8, the International Women’s Day. The CITU has decided to focus on three major issues --- ensuring equality in all aspects for all working women, ensuring the safety for all working women and effective measures to curb all kinds of violence against women, and passage of the reservation bill for women immediately. These issues are to be highlighted among both male and female workers during the observance of the day. GREETINGS TO TAMILNADU STATE COMMITTEE The CITU Secretariat greeted and congratulated its Tamilnadu state committee for the statewide campaign on the struggle of Maruti workers and for collecting solidarity funds for the workers of the Manesar plant of Maruti. As many as 147 workers are in jail for more than 18 months and thousands have been thrown out of job in that plant. In a function organised by Gurgaon unit of the CITU on January 30, A Soundera Rajan, president of the Tamilnadu state committee of CITU, handed over Rs five lakh to the Maruti Workers Union. CITU general secretary Tapen Sen and leaders of the Haryana state unit of the CITU were present on the occasion. The Tamilnadu CITU also contributed Rs 50,000 to the Haryana state committee for its struggle fund. The CITU has called upon all its committees to emulate the example of the Tamilnadu state committee to intensify and strengthen the solidarity activities. WORKSHOP ON WORKING WOMEN A national level workshop on working women was organised by the CITU on January 29 and 30, attended by members of the All India Working Women’s Coordination Committee (CITU) and also the presidents and general secretaries of the CITU state committees. The workshop decided on organisational activities among working women. This workshop was a follow up to the decisions of the all-India conference of the CITU in April 2013 and the all-India convention of working women in Puri in October 2013. The CITU Secretariat called upon all the state committees to take necessary organisational decisions to implement the workshop’s recommendations. POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS AND SOLIDARITY ACTIONS The CITU Secretariat held discussions on the political situation in the country. It condemned the continuing attacks on the democratic movement in West Bengal by the goons of the ruling party in the state. The Secretariat decided to continue the campaign and struggles, while highlighting the policies alternative to the neo-liberal policies of the ruling classes. The CITU Secretariat welcomed the decision of the Untied Forum of Bank Union (UFBU) to go in for a 48 hours strike on February and 10 and 11, and also the two day countrywide strike of the central government employees on February 12 and 13. The latter strike has been called by the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers. The CITU also extended solidarity to the struggle of defence production workers and the indefinite strike from February 17 called by three national level federations. The CITU called for actions in solidarity with these struggles. CONDOLENCES Before taking up other items on its agenda, the CITU Secretariat paid homage to departed leaders of the CITU and other democratic organisations. These included Kali Ghosh, Mrinal Das, Soumen Kundu, Daulat Ram, Shyamali Gupta, Suman Sazgiri, Shanti Shekhar Basu, Abdul Kareem Mia (Assam), Suresh (Plantation Workers Federation) and T S Rajan (telecom). The meeting also paid homage to Nelson Mandela and Pete Seeger who had passed away recently. The CITU Secretariat condemned the recent murder of SFI leader Saifuddin Mollah by TMC goons, and paid tributes to him as well as to other martyrs and victims of brutality in West Bengal.