Report of correspondent of Mazdoor Ekta Committee
Hundreds of workers, from different sectors, participated in the joint May Day march from Ramlila Maidan to Town Hall at Chandni Chowk, under the leadership of the Joint Forum of Trade Unions of Delhi. A public meeting was held at the Town Hall. There was a large and militant participation of women workers, in particular.
The streets of Chandni Chowk resounded with militant slogans – “Long live May Day!”, “Long live the unity of workers and peasants!”, “Inquilab Zindabad!”, as the procession advanced towards Town Hall. The workers carried placards with their demands, such as ‘Stop privatization of railways, electricity, healthcare, education!’, ‘Withdraw four anti-worker labour codes!’, ‘Implement minimum wage of Rs 26,000!’, ‘End the contract system!’, ‘Give permanent employment to all!’, ‘Social security for all workers!’, ‘Equal pay for equal work!’, ‘Restore Old Pension Scheme!’, ‘Grant MSP to farmers!’, ‘Down with capitalist exploitation!’, and so on.
Youth activists inspired the workers with militant songs reflecting their struggles against exploitation.
The joint May Day program was organised by Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), United Trade Union Congress (UTUC), Self-employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and Indian Council of Trade Unions (ICTU).
Representatives of participating organizations addressed the public meeting at Town Hall. They included Com Santosh Kumar of MEC, Com Amarjeet Kaur of AITUC, Com Tapan Sen of CITU, Com Rajendra Singh of HMS, Com Shatrujit Singh of UTUC, Com Chaurasia of AIUTUC, Com Shweta Raj of AICCTU, Com Ramashankar of TUCC and Com Lata of SEWA.
All the speakers unequivocally demanded withdrawal of the four labour codes, which are an outright attack on the rights won by workers through years of hard struggle. Highlighting the terrible working conditions of workers, the long working hours, lack of security of employment, the increasing use of contract labour and the denial of a dignified living wage, they demanded strict implementation of the 8 hour working day, minimum wages of Rs 26,000, pension and social security for all workers.
Speakers denounced the privatisation of public sector enterprises and essential public services such as health, education, transport and electricity supply, making these services increasingly unaffordable for masses of workers and their families. They denounced the lack of security at the workplace for women workers and demanded stringent punishment for crimes against women. They called upon the government to immediately implement MSP for all agricultural produce. They denounced the government for promoting communal violence and hatred, to break the unity of the workers and peasants. Attempts to criminalise all forms of protest, and the use of draconian laws such as UAPA to silence public dissent were roundly condemned.
On behalf of Mazdoor Ekta Committee, comrade Santosh Kumar called on the workers to step up the struggle in defence of our livelihood and rights, with the objective of taking political power in our hands and putting an end to capitalism and all forms of exploitation and oppression.
Representatives of all the participating organisations expressed their resolve to make the All-India strike of 20 May a resounding success.