Category: Latest posts

Starting 22 November, Seafarers and Dockworkers Unions in India and Sri Lanka carried out a week long industrial action against ‘Flags of Convenience’ (FOC) shipping. Activists at all major ports in India and Sri Lanka launched investigations of ships, crew contracts, and working and living conditions on board FOC ships.

BYD Electronics, a Nokia supplier company located in a Special Economic Zone at Orggadam near Chennai, terminated the services of 2,500 contract workers, sacked 37 permanent workers, suspended 23 more and ordered 437 others to sign a letter of apology to keep their jobs and announced an illegal lock out on November 1.

 A six week strike by contract workers of Neyveli Lignite Corporation(NLC) in Tamilnadu ended on October 27, 2010. Nearly 13,000 contract workers were participating in the strike at this state owned coal and electricity generation company.

About 1,500 workers of a Steel factory in Kharagpur, West Bengal, blocked the National Highway on November 21, 2010, after the management put up a notice announcing suspension of work in the plant.

The NREGA workers of Rajasthan, who have been carrying on a dharna at jaipur’s city circle since October 2, 2010 have finally achieved victory. The State government agreed to their demands in writing. This includes linking the MGNREGS wage rate with the state’s minimum wage rate, which in turn will be linked to the consumer price index (CPI).

On 6th November at 5.00 pm  hundreds of activists from various organisations  gathered outside Churchgate Station to protest the visit of U.S  President Barrack Obama to Mumbai. Activists belonging to Communist Ghadar Party of India, Lok Raj Sangathan, CPI, CPM, SUCI, CPI(ML) Liberation, CPI(ML)Red Flag, Bharat Jhodo Andolan and many others participated.

38, 000 workers of Doordarshan Kendra and All India Radio all across the country went on a 48 hour strike from November 23 morning, seriously crippling the services of these two government broadcasting institutions.

Faced with the government’s adamant refusal to discuss their demands, the unions have announced plans of stepped up struggle.

December 10 is marked the world over as Human Rights Day.  India, which is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed on this day in 1948, is home to the most glaring violation of human rights.

 A series of high profile corruption scandals have rocked the political establishment in recent weeks, engulfing both the ruling Congress and its allies, as well as the main opposition, the BJP.

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since that time, December 10 is marked each year, by the working and oppressed people all over the world, as the occasion to assert their claim to the rights that belong to them as human beings and to pledge to continue the struggle for the realisation of these rights.