KOCHI: The joint national convention of trade unions in Central public sector units (PSU) held in Kochi on Sunday decided to launch agitations and campaigns against ‘fixed term employment’.“An all-India joint convention of public sector workers will also be held at New Delhi on May 25 against privatisation, demanding the withdrawal of the Gazette notification on ‘fixed-term employment’. The meet will demand the withdrawal of all restrictions and anti-worker pre-conditions on the right to collective bargaining, fair and satisfactory wage revision of Central public sector unit workers. The convention shall decide the next course of united action to achieve demands,” read a declaration passed in the meeting.
A five-day propaganda drive, campaigns and agitations will be held from May 7 to 11 at all PSUs. “The campaign should culminate with a massive demonstration at all PSUs and send a message to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Heavy Industries and Department of Public Enterprises on May 11,” the declaration said.
“PSUs are under vicious attack and the country’s national assets are brought to be sold out which will practically lead to de-industrialisation. The tragedy is all this is being done under the garb of ‘Make in India’. But the balance sheet of the past four years show there is no ‘making in India’. Rather, the country is being destroyed,” said CITU national general secretary Tapan Sen.
“The NDA Government has decided to even privatise defence production. They have decided to privatise 407 railway stations in metropolitan cities. Their agenda is total privatisation,” he said. “Trade unions will decide their further course of action, including a general strike, after the New Delhi convention,” Sen said.
AITUC working president H Mahadevan said by deciding to implement fixed employment, the government was violating the norms of the ILO convention and many court orders.
INTUC national vice-president R Chandrasekharan said the Prime Minister had voted in the UN Agenda-2030 ensuring India’s consent to provide decent jobs promising good wages, job security, education for children and medical facility.
“Now, he is taking an action contrary to this and making a mockery of the decisions taken by an international agency,” Chandrasekharan said.Thampan Thomas (HMS), Swadesh Dev Roye (CITU), Meenakshi Sundaram (JAF Bengaluru) and V Prabhakar (PSU TU Coordination Committee, Hyderabad) were present.