A NATIONAL CONVENTION on ‘Unemployment, Job Losses and Deteriorating Quality of Employment’ was held jointly by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Students' Federation of India (SFI) at BTR Bhawan in Delhi on February 2, 2021. More than 300 delegates from across the country, comprising the national and state leadership of the three organisations, participated in the convention. Hemalata, Mohd Riyas and VP Sanu, presidents of CITU, DYFI and SFI respectively presided over the convention.
The convention was held in the background of unemployment rising to alarming levels, mounting job losses and the ever deteriorating quality of employment. In addition to the impact of the global crisis which resulted in huge increase in unemployment around the world, the measures taken by the BJP government led by Modi, like demonetisation, GST etc had compounded the problem in our country. But totally unconcerned about the miseries of the common people, the BJP government is adamantly continuing its neoliberal agenda. CITU, DYFI and SFI have decided to conduct country-wide campaign to create awareness about the root cause of unemployment and develop country-wide movement against unemployment and demanding right to work as fundamental right. The joint national convention was the beginning of these efforts.
The convention started with the releasing of a collection of CITU documents on the issues of unemployment and quality of employment. This collection included the declaration adopted by the first convention on unemployment organised by CITU in April 1990 in Durgapur and the inaugural address by B T Ranadive, founder president of CITU and the commission papers on the subject adopted in different conferences of CITU.
The draft declaration was placed by Tapan Sen, Avoy Mukherjee and Mayookh Biswas general secretaries of CITU, DYFI and SFI respectively. 27 delegates from the three organisations spoke in support of the declaration narrating their own experiences and giving valuable suggestions. The declaration along with the 14 point charter of demands and the future tasks was adopted unanimously. Hemalata summed up the discussion and made concluding remarks. She pointed out that unemployment was integral to the capitalist system where making profit is the driving force, not meeting the requirements of the people. However, while keeping this in mind it is necessary to take up the immediate demands of the people related to employment and quality of employment, linking the problem with the policies of the governments and in the process create awareness about the root cause of the problem. A strong and sustained joint movement covering all sections of society in the rural and urban areas must be built up.
The declaration along with the demands and future programme was unanimously adopted by the joint national convention.
DEMANDS:
1. Formulate policies that generate decent permanent employment
2. Regularise all employees under contract, casual employment, and under the camouflage of voluntary work in government schemes in welfare, education including child-labour schools and other services
3. Fill up all vacancies in different government departments and PSUs including all backlogs in reservations as per constitutional provisions for SC/ST etc
4. Strictly enforce all statutory provisions for reservation in employment. Extend and enforce these reservations to employment of all kinds in the private sector.
5. Introduce 35 hours working per week and four-shift workdays through appropriate statutory enforceable measures
6. Seriously address the issue of proliferation of child labour; strengthen the special child labour schools to prepare their enrolment into regular schools; rehabilitate the affected households with Govt assistance
7. Increase public expenditure/investment on infrastructure development, education, health etc and create decent permanent jobs
8. Withdraw premature compulsory retirement of government/PSU employees
9. Directly link incentives/concessions/rebates/exemptions provided from government exchequer to private corporate investment, in concrete verifiable terms, with decent and permanent job creation
10. Withdraw/scrap all measures/policies that facilitate precarious employment, insecure employment, including fragility of employment relations
11. Extend MGNREGA to every individual jobseeker instead of one per household; Increase workdays under MGNREGA to 200 a year with minimum wage of Rs 600 per day; formulate urban employment guarantee scheme with appropriate statutory measures
12. Unemployment allowance of Rs 5000 per month to be introduced and enforced through statutory measures
13. Free compulsory education with appropriate enforceable statutory measures for all up to university level along with expanding the education infrastructure from entry-level onwards through public investment; provision of scholarship at all levels; these should include vocational education and skill development institutions.
14. Right to Work to be made a fundamental right through appropriate amendment in the Constitution
FUTURE PROGRAMMES
The joint national convention decided to take the following programme as the first phase of action on the issue of unemployment, job losses and deteriorating quality of employment to prepare the ground for joint countrywide struggles in the next phase.
1. Joint state and district level conventions to be completed by the end of February 2021
2. Extensive joint/independent campaigns on the charter of demands in all the states up to grass-roots level
3. Campaign should be aimed to reach widest sections of the youth, students, workers, unemployed and people in general, and can be in the form of:
a. Survey to understand the extent of unemployment/ its impact at the grass root level
b. Wide distribution of campaign material
c. Jathas/ processions/ meetings/ dharnas etc jointly decided at the respective level
4. State level demonstrations in all states on a date/ or within a week’s period
5. All India joint mobilisation, if possible, as jointly decided
This convention called upon the entire working class, youth, students and all progressive sections of society to participate in the campaign and strengthen the fight against unemployment and for the right to work as a fundamental right.
