United Strike by all workers at Bokaro Steel

By Dilip -
3 December 2015: New Delhi: New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) congratulates the permanent and contract workers of Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP), one of the biggest steel plants of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), who have unitedly struck work today against non - payment of bonus, withdrawal of medical benefits to dependents, discontinuation of leave encashment.

The NTUI salutes this unprecedented unity of permanent and contract workers at Bokaro Steel – a unity which has been very difficult to forge across industries. Bridging this gap between workers have been the most difficult given the difference in working conditions and the extreme wage inequality between these two sections of workers. The NTUI particularly salutes the members and the leadership of its affiliate Jharkhand Krantikari Majdoor Union (JKMU), which consistently and militantly leads thousands of contract workers in Bokaro Steel Plant.

JKMU has been at the forefront of forming a national platform of contract workers organisations. The unions affiliated to government recognized Central Trade Union Organisations, representing permanent workers are members of the National Joint Committee of Steel (NJCS), the bipartite platform of Steel Authority of India, have been agitating for over a month. On 2 December, the negotiations failed and the Regional Labour Commissioner filed a failure report. The NJCS is scheduled to meet again on 25 December.

The workers, permanent and contract, together responded to the call for strike given by the contract workers platform to send out a strong message of working class unity, militancy and union power before the next round of negotiations.

Laal Salaam Comrades!
Long Live working class unity!

Gautam Mody
General Secretary


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