2nd September 2016 General Strike
Reflection of
Workers’ Anger
Hemalata
The
country wide general strike on 2nd September this year was even bigger
and more widespread than that held on the same day last year, as initial
reports from all over the country suggest. The country wide general
strike this year too was held on the same 12 point charter of demands.
The central trade unions claimed a participation of 15 crore workers in
the strike last year. The impact of the strike this year was so huge
that even before the trade unions made any claims, the electronic media
reported that 18 crore workers participated in the strike.
This
gives big rebuff to the claims made by the government that it was
working for the benefit of the workers and for providing them social
security benefits. It is also significant that the BMS, which withdrew
from the strike in the last minute in 2015, did not join the strike call
this year at all. Besides, the BJP led government used everything
within its capacity to create confusion among the workers and sabotage
the strike. The BMS became a willing ally of the government in these
efforts, declaring that it was ‘withdrawing’ from a strike that it has
never called, but also claiming ‘historic victory’ for the workers. All
these were nothing but manoeuvres by the BJP and the BMS, both members
of the same parivar headed by the RSS to deceive the workers in their
efforts to serve their corporate masters. The corporate media,
particularly the electronic media, as usual, aired these false claims
and added their might to the misinformation campaign.
But the
working class of the country refused to be deceived. As the reports
show, despite the call of the BMS leadership to organise ‘victory
rallies and meetings’, BMS members were not willing to oppose the
strike. In fact, in several places they joined the strike. Workers who
were not organised into any unions, who joined the strike last year, as
in Pune industrial area, joined the strike this time too. In several
places the strike spread to newer areas encompassing newer sections of
workers. In many states, not only the states that are traditional
strongholds of trade unions, but in many others, the strike turned into a
bandh. This was mainly due to the massive participation of the road
transport workers as a result of which life in these states came to a
standstill. In many districts of Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab wore a bandh like look.
Despite the attempts by the TMC government in West Bengal to suppress
the strike by issuing warnings and threats to the workers, state
transport buses in the state plied empty and a bandh like situation
prevailed in almost all the districts. In Kerala and Tripura, as always,
strike turned into a bandh.
The anger of the workers against the
policies of the government was visible in many ways. Around 70000
anganwadi employees and ASHAs, most of them who were not members of any
union joined the strike in Gujarat. Thousands of them participated in
the demonstrations held at the district headquarters in many districts.
All the workers in the minor ports of Bhavnagar in Gujarat, Gangavaram
and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh joined the strike. These workers are not
members of any of the central trade unions that called the strike.
Similarly in many industrial clusters across the country, thousands of
workers, who are not members of any union, joined the strike.
While
there were a few areas like the port sector where the strike was not as
good as the last time, and a few districts where the strike in the road
transport sector was not as effective as last year, overall the strike
was observed in many more industrial clusters and sectors and many newer
sections of workers joined it.
It was not only the misinformation
and misleading campaign of the government with its huge advertisements
in the media aided and abetted by the BMS that the workers confronted.
In several states they were subjected to victimisation, police
repression and physical attacks. In Haryana 22 leaders of road transport
workers’ union were arrested and the striking workers were lathi
charged; police went to the residential areas where contract workers
lived and coerced them to join duties. Several coal workers in Jharkhand
were suspended for joining the strike. The police conducted a flag
march to intimidate workers and also lathi charged workers standing
peacefully near a theatre in Noida. In West Bengal CITU leader and
former MP Suraj Pathak and many CITU leaders were arrested. TMC goons
attacked the workers and their supporters, including women,
participating in the rallies. Around 5000 workers were arrested in
different parts of Assam.
The extent of the strike and the support
it received could be gauged from the reports that were available till
the evening of 2nd September though comprehensive reports from all the
states and sectors are yet to come. In several states local state level
unions joined the strike. In Telangana, the TRS affiliated union joined
the strike; the TNTUC belonging to the ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh
supported the strike in Telangana. Even in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh,
though TNTUC opposed the strike, workers belonging to it joined the
strike. In Odisha the chief minister himself expressed his support to
the strike when the trade union leaders met him. The Left parties openly
supported the strike. Even while the BMS was not part of the strike and
BMS leadership directed its members to observe ‘victory rallies’, local
units of the BMS were not in a position to oppose the strike; in
several states BMS members joined the strike.
Overwhelming
majority of bank and insurance employees all over the country joined the
strike. State government employees in most of the states joined the
strike. Particularly noteworthy is the participation of state government
employees in the north eastern states including Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya etc who participated in the strike
for the first time. Participation of central government employees – of
the income tax employees, postal employees in particular was massive.
Defence employees in several defence production units joined the strike.
BSNL employees all over the country joined the strike. The strike was
near total in the coal sector. Overwhelming majority of contract workers
in the public sector participated in the strike. Strike among medical
and sales representatives was total in almost all the states.
Scheme
workers including anganwadi employees, ASHAs, midday meal workers
participated in the strike all over the country. Teaching and non
teaching staff of National Child Labour Project joined the strike in
Bihar, Maharashtra etc. Traditional sector workers like the plantation
workers, cashew, coir, and fisheries workers participated in the strike
in their lakhs. Unorganised workers in beedi, construction, head load
workers, auto and rickshaw drivers, street vendors, domestic workers in
several states joined the strike and also participated in the
demonstrations, rasta roko and rail roko. Municipal and conservancy
workers, panchayat workers, village chowkidars etc also joined the
strike.
In Andhra Pradesh, strike was total in Vizag steel and
DCI; around 70% of workers of permanent workers in the Vizag Shipyard
participated in the strike. The TTD in the holy town of Tirupati was
totally paralysed. Autos all over the state went on strike. Almost all
the industrial clusters including the Renigunta industrial area were
closed down. In several major cities truck owners associations
participated in the strike. This along with the strike of the head load
workers throughout the state brought all commercial transactions in the
state to a standstill.
In Assam strike took the form of complete
bandh in almost all districts seriously affecting public and private
transport. No oil refinery in the state functioned. ONGC remained
paralysed. More than 15 lakhs tea garden workers joined the strike. All
public and private educational institutions remained closed. Railway
transport was disrupted due to the rail roko by the unorganised workers,
peasants, agricultural workers etc.
In Bihar too the strike was
turned into bandh in many districts. Road transport including bus and
tempo services was off the road. Workers in several industrial clusters
went on strike.
Workers in almost all the major industrial areas
in NCR Delh joined the strike. Massive joint demonstrations were held in
several centres. The central demonstration was addressed by the
national trade union leaders.
In Gujarat, an estimated 4 lakhs workers in 22 districts joined the strike and
organised demonstrations in many districts.
Strike
was highly successful in Haryana including in the Gurgaon, Manesar
industrial areas. Workers in the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki, Honda,
Hero Honda and other industrial units joined the strike and held
demonstrations.
Demonstrations were held in Jammu region in
support of the strike while Kashmir region continues to be under curfew.
Thousands of workers from different sectors participated in the
demonstrations
In Jharkhand strike was observed in industrial
areas including in Jamshedpur that never participated in any strike till
now. It was reported to be more massive than the strike in 2015.
An
estimated 50 lakhs workers participated in the strike in Karnataka.
Strike was total in the road transport sector and in all the major
industries in Bengaluru and Mysore. 19 lakhs workers in the industrial
clusters of Bengaluru joined the strike. Strike was total in both the
units of Mico, L&T, Chenna metals, Toyota, ITC, Vikrant Tyres etc.
In BEL in Bengaluru, the union affiliated to INTUC did not join the
strike; despite this 80% of workers, 800 out of the total 1073 workers,
more than the membership of the CITU affiliated union, joined the strike
The
strike in transport sector in several cities and towns in Madhya
Pradesh was total. Hamalis of agricultural mandis also participated
affecting commercial transactions.
Strike was total in many
private industrial areas in Maharashtra including the Pune, Aurangabad,
Nagpur, Nasik, Mumbai, Solapur etc. Major industries like Ceat Ltd,
Thysun Crupp, Sansonite India, Crompton Grieves, beer manufacturing
units, pharma industries, liquor and textile industries were closed.
Strike was total among beedi and power loom workers in Solapur.
Strike
created a bandh like situation in Odisha. It was total among iron ore,
manganese and coal mines workers and near total among the contract
workers. Road transport including autos was totally paralysed.
Strike
evoked massive response in Punjab with workers. Road transport was
paralysed and industrial clusters remaining closed. Unorganised workers
participated in the demonstrations in thousands.
The garment
industry in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu witnessed total strike. Strike was
also effective in the Coimbatore industrial area. It was total in Ashok
Leyland, Ennore Foundries, Simpson Group of companies and all three
factories of TI Group in Chennai. Workers in BHEL Trichy and Ranipet,
ordinance factory in Nilgiris, defence production units in Avadi and
Aravangadu were totally in strike. In Aravangadu, BMS members also
joined the strike. Contract workers in Manali industrial belt MFL, ATC
Tyres in Tirunelveli and TCL Lancer, in L&T, in Tyre machinery
making Honey Well company went on strike.
There was bandh like
situation in the state due to the total participation of road transport
workers in the strike in Telangana. There was total strike in most of
the public sector undertakings in the state. Strike was also total in
most of the industrial clusters in and around Hyderabad. On the whole
the strike was reported to be even more successful than last year
Strike
was total in Udhampur industrial area of Uttarakhand and partial in
that in Haridwar. It was also total in public road transport in the
state but partial in private road transport.
In West Bengal, bandh
like situation prevailed in many districts despite the threats and
intimidation of the TMC government and its goons. Government ran buses
without passengers in the morning but was compelled to withdraw later.
Jute mills were closed. Commercial activities were nominal. Educational
institutions in several districts were closed. Most of the tea gardens
remained closed.
This strike, the seventeenth joint country wide
general strike after the advent of neoliberal policies in the country,
was preceded by joint campaign that was better organised and taken up to
the block and in some states lower level to reach the workers. In
addition, CITU prepared campaign material to make the workers aware of
the issues and their relationship to the government policies. Booklets
exposing government claims were also published which were translated
into local languages. During the strike the lower level committees were
regularly up dated with information exposing government claims. This has
helped in preventing the workers from succumbing to the confusion
sought to be created by the government and the BMS.
This country wide general strike will definitely be a mile stone in the working class
struggles of the country.
Source:
confederation
