BSNL Employees Union, the main recognised union of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, conducted its eighth all India conference at Chennai, from December 31, 2016 to January 3, 2017. 1,632 delegates and observers attended this conference. BSNL is one of the biggest public sector companies employing 2.25 lakh workers and officers. Hence, the conference was crucial, not only for the union and the employees, but to the BSNL as well. 

TASKS BEFORE THE CONFERENCE

At a time when the Modi government is launching an all round attack on the public sector, with a dedicated agency called the ‘Niti Aayog’ to do the job, it was an important agenda before the conference, to strengthen the unity of the employees and to sharpen the struggles against the anti-PSU and anti-worker policies of the government. 

Hectic efforts are being taken by the government to break BSNL into pieces. To achieve this, the government is moving fast to form a subsidiary tower company, and to hive off all the 65,000 mobile towers of BSNL to this subsidiary tower company. The whole idea is to rob BSNL of its mobile towers and to convert it into a skeleton. Thereafter, it will be easy for the government to finish off BSNL.  Two lakh employees and officers have gone on a glorious one day strike on December 15, 2016, opposing the formation of the subsidiary tower company. It is needles to say that planning to intensify the struggles to stop BSNL's fragmentation was another important task before the conference.

With its huge financial muscle, the Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio has taken the Indian telecom industry by storm. Reliance industries has invested a whopping Rs 1,50,000 crore to roll out its massive network. In addition to this, none else than the prime minister of the country, has become the brand ambassador of this company. On September 5, 2016, when Reliance Jio launched its services, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, appeared with a smiling face on the front pages of all the leading national dailies, appealing to the people of the nation to avail the services of Reliance Jio. Further, the sector regulator, TRAI, is closing its eyes to all the violation of norms by Reliance Jio. Even multinational giant like Vodafone is unable to face the challenge from Reliance Jio. Under these circumstances, planning to improve the quality of BSNL’s services and also to improve customer satisfaction was another do-or-die situation before the union.

To accomplish all the above tasks, strengthening the unity of the entire 2.25 lakh work force and their more than a dozen unions and associations  was another important task before the conference. After becoming the recognised union in BSNL in 2004, BSNLEU succeeded in bringing all the unions and associations under an umbrella organisation, which is spearheading all the struggles against the anti-BSNL onslaughts of the government. To strengthen this unity further, was of course another major task before the conference.

INAUGURAL SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE

The delegates session of the conference was inaugurated by AK Padmanabhan, vice president, CITU. While stating that defending the public sector was defending the sovereignty of the nation, AKP went on to explain how the two and half year rule of the Modi government had unleashed attacks on the public sector. While explaining how the demonetisation had caused sufferings to the working masses, he asserted that the Modi government had not fulfilled any of its assurances given at the time of the 2014 parliament elections. He called upon the trade union movement to fight against those forces which divide the people in the name of caste, religion, region, etc. Fighting for the rights of women is an inseparable task of the trade union movement, pointed out AKP. 

While drawing the attention of the delegates to the centenary celebrations of the October Revolution, he explained that even though the Soviet Union had got disintegrated, the concept of ‘Scientific Socialism’ had not faded. He cited the example of the 44 day long strike by the 39,000 employees of the US communication giant, Verizon, to defend their jobs and existing rights. The fact that 46 percent of the wealth of the world is controlled by 0.73 percent of the population, not only highlights the prevalence of extreme inequality, but also underscored the fact that Scientific Socialism is the only alternative, he said. Finally, AKP exhorted that the trade unions should combine this understanding with their struggles for the betterment of the workers.

SEMINAR ON THE REVIVAL OF BSNL

BSNLEU has made it a practice to conduct seminars on the revival of BSNL, along with its conferences at the all India, circle and district levels. Procurement of equipments for the expansion of networks, improvement of the quality of services, improving customer satisfaction through better work culture, etc., are seriously discussed in these seminars, by the representatives of unions, as well as that of the management. 

From January 1, 2016 onwards, the Forum, the umbrella organisation of the unions and associations of BSNL, has launched a movement called ‘Service with a Smile’. Maintenance of fault free networks and towers, prompt clearance of faults, stepping up of marketing activities and improvement of the work culture of the employees are the avowed objectives of this movement. After launching this movement, the quality of services has improved considerably, which has also reflected in increased revenue and in the expansion of customer base. The subject of the seminar in this conference was, “Service with a Smile for the Revival of BSNL”.

Anupam Srivastava, chairman and managing director of BSNL, along with the top officers of the company, attended the seminar. Besides, leaders of all the major unions and associations of BSNL, were also present. P Abhimanyu, general secretary, delivered the key note address and explained how the unions and associations had collectively taken efforts to improve customer satisfaction by improving the work culture of the employees. 

Addressing the seminar, the CMD BSNL praised the trade unions for their contribution for the revival of BSNL, and also explained about the various steps being taken by the management, for the expansion of the networks and improving the quality of the services. In the course of his speech, the CMD BSNL also disclosed that, starting from the New Year, BSNL would also be providing free voice calls and data, to match the tariff of Reliance Jio. Leaders of other organisations also enriched the seminar with their contributions. 

DELEGATES SESSION

A presidium, consisting of Balbir Singh, president, and the vice-presidents, presided over the delegates session. P Abhimanyu, general secretary, presented the report on the activities of the union for the past two years. 105 delegates from all the circles participated in the deliberations on the report. 

The delegates came down heavily on the pro-corporate and anti-people policies being pursued by the Narendra Modi government. They also expressed their serious concern over the attacks being unleashed on the public sector of the country, including on BSNL, in pursuance of the neo-liberal policies, and vowed to fight against those policies. The delegates highly appreciated the initiatives being taken by the central leadership to forge united struggles to defend BSNL. Growing communalism was one issue, on which many delegates expressed their anguish.

Resolutions were passed on the issues of demonetisation, communal harmony, revival of BSNL, implementation of the Supreme Court judgement on equal pay for equal work, observing the centenary year of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and on many other important issues. Finally, the general secretary summed up the discussions. With certain amendments, the delegates unanimously approved the report presented by the general secretary, and also the audited accounts presented by the treasurer. Election of office-bearers took place unanimously. 

The conference got concluded amidst thunderous slogans. Undoubtedly, this is a landmark conference in the history of BSNLEU. It has laid down the road-map to guide the union for the next two years, for the revival of BSNL, fighting against the retrograde neo-liberal policies and strengthening the unity of the working class.