PRESS RELEASE OF TODAY’S NATIONWIDE PROTEST BY TRADE UNIONS, FEDERATIONS/ASSOCIATIONS
INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC and Independent Sectoral Federations/Associations, 23rd July 2021
Lakhs of Workers on the call of Joint Platform of CTUs, Federations and Associations Observed Countrywide Protest Day on 23rd July Against Draconian Essential Defence Services Ordinance and the Rampant Drive of Privatisation of Defence Production Sector.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Independent Federations and Associations, had been giving its active support to the ongoing united struggle, under the joint leadership of the five federations of the Defence Production employees, against aggressive and hectic exercise of the Central Govt. to privatise Defence Production sector and Ordnance Factories Network. The reports have poured in from all over India for protest actions by several lakhs of workers-employees from formal and informal economy sectors organising actions in form of demonstrations, dharnas, badge wearing, lunch hour protests etc. They also extended support to the demands of the ongoing Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar, near parliament.
The CTUs note with concern that, simultaneously, a substantial part of the defence related production is being outsourced to private sector, both indigenous and foreign, permitting 100% FDI. All these measures are going to severely weaken the indigenous production network of all basic requirements of the defence forces, much to the detriment of national interests. The Defence Employees Federations have been fighting unitedly with determination and commitment against these anti-national policies.
They have demanded withdrawal of the Essential Defence Service Ordinance by the Central Government, meant to brutally suppress the rising discontent and anger among the Defence Production employees against these anti-national policies. The Ordinance bans the right to strike in defence production sector. It has various draconian penal provisions extending even beyond strike, to all kinds of collective democratic protests. It empowers the Govt. to extend those brutal autocratic measures to other sectors as well. The Joint Platform of CTUs denounces such atrocious Ordinance with a firm resolve to fight and resist unitedly the authoritarian ways of the Central Government, the leaders said in their address at dharnas and rallies.
The trade union movement is raising the united voice of protest and condemnation against this authoritarian Ordinance hurriedly promulgated by the Central Govt. to push its policy of privatization of the PSUs, Railways, Mines, Financial Sector as well as the Defence Production network under Govt. in fact the national productive assets and infrastructure in entirety, only to benefit big corporates, foreign and domestic.
As part of nationwide protest Delhi trade unions organized protest at Parliament Street. Those who addressed the protest included Ms. Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary-AITUC, Tapan Sen, General Secretary-CITU, Rajiv Dimri, General Secretary-AICCTU, Narayan Singh-HMS, Manager Chaursia-AIUTUC, RS Dagar-UTUC, Usha-SEWA, Santosh Kumar-MEC & Shrinath-ICTU. Apart from this Santosh Rai, Shatrujit Singh, Ram Raj, Dhirendra Sharma, Anurag were also among others who participated in the protest. Activists of women organisations and the trade union of AAP also reached there to extend their support.
The unions would intensify their struggle in the coming days with fortnight campaign culminating in “Save India” Day on 09th August 2021.
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