PRESS RELEASE
New Delhi
12 December 2006

MAKE SUCCESS DECEMBER 14
ALL INDIA GENERAL STRIKE

The Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) calls upon the people from all walks life to support the All India General Strike on 14^th December 2006 being observed by thousands of workers’ and employees’ unions from across the country.

The RDF calls on the workers and employees to make the strike a great success and use it as a first step to initiate a larger struggle.

The ruling classes have stepped up their pro-imperialist and capitalist policies in the recent years in the name of ‘second phase of globalisation’ or ‘human face globalisation’. The economic policies pursued by the UPA government have been pro-imperialist and capitalist, and anti-worker and anti-people. The UPA government is preparing a legislation on unorganised workers unilaterally without their representation in the committee. The labour policy for the Eleventh Plan is also being prepared without consulting the workers. The government has decided further to amend the labour laws to provide hire and fire policy despite strong opposition of all the trade unions. The reduction in the rate of interest on the Provident Fund deposits of Rs 128,000 crores has made employees feel insecure and introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme in the place of old pension scheme and the reduction in the pensionary benefits have caused anger among the workers. The dismantling of the public distribution system has been responsible for a sharp rise in the prices of all essential commodities, badly affecting the livelihood of poor people.

Employment Guarantee Scheme is neither properly implemented nor is it extended to all parts of the country. Notwithstanding all the show about 10% rate of growth and India on the path of becoming a superpower, the unemployment has sharply increased in the last 2 ½ years phenomenally under the UPA regime

The labour laws will not be implemented in hundreds of SEZs that are going to mushroom up all over the country. These SEZs are going to be the deemed foreign territories where workers will have no rights to organise themselves. The right to strike will not be allowed.

A number of workers’ and employees’ unions like All India Federations and Associations of employees and workers in bank, central & state government departments, insurance, railway, civil aviation, defence, postal, petroleum, telecom and several other sector unions and hundreds of independent unions have joined together to implement the General Strike. Among the major sponsoring trade unions are AICCTU, AITUC, CITU, HMS, TUCC, UTUC and UTUC-LS, the leaders of which trail behind the same comprador ruling sections and parties, always deceiving the workers and employees and all sections of the masses of people. The real reason behind losing many a battle front initiated by the workers is this leadership.

The RDF calls on the workers and employees to make the General Strike a success and come out militantly to lead their own struggles leaving behind the traitorous leadership to the pro-imperialist and anti-people parties like Congress, BJP, CPI (M), CPI, Janata Dal, TDP, AIADK, DMK, Shiv Sena, Trinamul, RJD, Samajwadi, etc., to whom they, anyway, belong.

Let us build uncompromising struggles that can make the workers and employees decide to their own future without getting deceived by the traitorous leadership belonging to the same parties which are responsible for the anti-worker and anti-people policies.

Sd/-(RAJKISHORE)

General Secretary