NTUI statement on May Day 2015
NTUI statement on May day 2015
Build a United Struggle for Safe and Secure Jobs and Freedom
If ever we
thought that things couldn’t get worse for the working class, we were wrong!
The last
twelve months have seen an unparalleled attack on working people. The BJP,
which came to government a year ago, has intensified its attack on all sections
of the working class. The BJP has recognised that its principle failure during
its last term in office (1998-2004) was that while it had moved policy in the
direction of the free market it did not create the institutional framework for
it. The journey from ‘India Shining’ to ‘Make in India’ is to translate the
ideology of the free market into not just policy but also legislation. Hence,
the BJP government has now set about to put in place, not just a stronger
legislative framework for the right to property, but also to secure the right
to profit and the right of companies to enjoy the same rights as if they are
citizens.
Hindutva
for Economic Restructuring
When the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about the need for ‘trust in citizens’ for
an environment that is business friendly, he equates the rights of corporates
with the rights enjoyed by citizens. This ‘trust’ can only be achieved if the
right of the corporate displaces the rights of citizens. Hence the BJP government
has set about a programme to attack the most marginalised and socially
discriminated citizens, be they women, dalits, adivasis or religious
minorities. Be it ‘ghar wapsi’ or the proposal for the Freedom of Religion Bill
or the legislation on the slaughter of bulls, bullocks and buffalos, the aim of
the BJP government is to polarise and divide society around their Hindutva
agenda.
These actions are indeed aimed at communalising society along religious
lines but are also a clear attack on the livelihood of those engaged and
employed in the meat and leather industry and an attack on small and marginal
farmers, a large number of whom are from historically oppressed communities.
The BJP governments plan of advancing the ‘Maharashtra model’ on animal slaughter
to a countrywide agenda will contribute both to destitution of those related to
the industry but also add to the problem of food availability and security of
the poorest section of the population.
Access
to Land to Promote Low Wage Unsafe Jobs
Along with
this is comes the promise to private capital to easy and unlimited access to
land and other natural resources, through the amendment to the Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act 2013. When the BJP
government has failed to obtain legislative sanction, it has forced it, not
once but twice, through Presidential ordinances. The ordinance has diluted the
principle of informed and democratic consent by removing social impact
assessment (SIA) for a range of industrial and infrastructure projects. SIA was
a critical component of the 2013 political compromise that led to the
legislation and addressed the effect and therefore relief and resettlement
issues of not just land owners but also landless workers who are dependent on
land for their livelihood.
Furthermore the restriction the ordinance places on
the Gram Sabha takes away key gains made through the Forest Rights Act.
Added to this the BJP has legislated the Mines and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) (MMDR) Act and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act to delink
mineral resources from their final use. In effect what the BJP government seeks
to do is to create a framework that allows for the transfer of property rights
from peasants to corporates and create a ‘market’ for both land and minerals.
And yet in the knowledge that such a ‘market’ may in many cases not assure
profits, the BJP government is willing to extend state support to this profit
model through government guarantees. This, the BJP government says will bring the
‘poor, dalits, tribals, backwards, those who are landless... 300 million
would get employment’.
Race to
the Bottom
Clearing
land of the ‘poor, dalits, tribals, backwards’ will
however not be enough to create the 300 million jobs. For this,‘labour law reform’
is the government’s solution. In the first instance through amendments moved in
the Lok Sabha to the Apprentices’ Act 1961, the Factories Act 1948 and the Self
Certification and then through its state governments, led by Rajasthan, that
also amended the Industrial Disputes Act 1948 and the Contract Labour Act 1971.
Since then the union government has circulated drafts of the Small Factories
Bill, the Wage Code and the Industrial Relations Code. These drafts seek to
alter the basic framework of labour law by curtailing basic workers’ rights
that are today protected amongst others by the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the
Trade Union Act 1926 and the Industrial Disputes Act 1948. By amending the PF
and ESI Acts, the BJP government is playing on the financial hardship
of low income workers and pushing them to low contribution options of
healthcare insurance and retiral benefits in the private sector in the name of
‘choice’. The objective is to universalise, in every sphere of economic life,
the principle of capacity to pay and ability to pay.
These proposals are a
direct attack on the freedom of workers to form or join trade unions of their
choice and shrink the right to strike and all forms of action by workers in
order to agitate their demands including on wages and work place safety and
security in what are today already very unequal and discriminatory workplaces.
While
seeking to attract investment and compromising with imperialist powers, the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently assured a global audience that he will
‘Make in India’ by placing ‘the workforce to power global growth’ at the
disposal of capital. Let there be no doubt that by this the BJP government is
assuring capital that it will lead from the front in the ‘race to the bottom’
by providing a workforce with low wages and unprotected conditions of work and
employment. The BJP is assuring capital that it will clear the countryside of
the ‘poor, dalits, tribals, backwards’. The BJP is assuring
capital that it will place land and natural resources at the disposal of
capital. The BJP is assuring capital that it will provide government guarantees
against possible losses. The BJP is assuring capital that it will put down any
resistance from the working class and the peasantry since any voice against ‘Make
in India’ is a voice against the ‘national interest’.
The NTUI
has always recognised the critical importance of both working class unity and
advancing the united front. We note the persistence of the 13 central trade
union organisations’ effort. We salute the unity of coal workers for their
December 2014 strike as we salute the transport workers for their efforts at a
one-day nationwide strike yesterday both of which were against privatisation of
the sectors. And yet the NTUI has always recognised that if the working class
movement has to succeed in breaching the onslaught of capital then we must
prepare our movement for sustained struggle. We know that a sustained struggle
cannot be built without an intensification of our political engagement.
Over
these past months we have sought to work with others for a convergence between
social movements and trade unions. We are willing to experiment with the widest
possible alliance of progressive forces. We have worked to build strong
relations between ourselves and other militant trade unions. And we know that
we cannot fight our battles alone here and to this end we have committed
ourselves with militant trade unions from across the world to build an alliance
to fight against all forms of contract and irregular work and for safe and
secure workplaces. Just as we put our energies in building strong unions we
must also strengthen our efforts to build stronger alliances with
other sections of the progressive movement learning at each stage from our
experience so that we can together sharpen our political experience and take
our movement forward to build a fair, just and equitable social order.
Let us
Unite this May Day and
Fight
Discrimination - Fight Communal Violence
Fight
to Repeal the Land Ordinance:
No Land Acquisition without Consent of Affected
People
Resist
the Attack on Labour Rights – Fight for Safe, Secure Jobs and a Just Wage
