Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Ludhiana power loom workers’ strike enters 14th day

The strike of the power loom workers of Ludhiana’s Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar and Madhopuri areas under the leadership of Karkhana Mazdoor Union (KMU) entered 14 day today. Yesterday (on 28th September), the striking workers dedicated the 13th day of their strike to 103rd birth day of martyr Bhagat Singh. After the inconclusive dialogue with the Assistant Labour Commissioner on 27th September, the workers of 7 other power loom factories have also decided to join the strike. With this, the workers of 59 factories are on strike now.
Coming under the pressure of the strike, the factory owners conducted a meeting in Gaushala on the evening of 28th September. It is learnt that the meeting witnessed a fierce altercation and even though majority of the owners were in favour of a compromise, some powerful factory owners ensured that a consensus could not be reached.
Today on the 14th day of strike the workers conducted a meeting at Tuda ground, Chandigarh road from 10 am to 5:30 pm. It was decided in the meeting that tomorrow (on 30th September) the workers, along with their family members, would organize a huge demonstration at the Labour Commissoner's office. Despite the long struggle, the workers are not showing any sign of fatigue and their spirit is high. They insist that they would go back to work only when their legitimate demands are met.
Contact for further information:
Rajwinder – 098886 55663, Lakhwinder – 096461 50249
Office: Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Pustkalaya, Gali No.5, Lakshman Nagar, Gyaspura, Ludhiana, Punjab
The coverage of the Ludhiana strike in some of the national dailies can be read at the following links:

The Ongoing Struggle of Ludhiana Power Loom Workers: http://sanhati.com/excerpted/2755/

Monday, September 27, 2010

Decisive strike at labour office today Strike to be carried on till demands are met

The struggle of the power loom workers of Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar, Madhopuri of Ludhiana 

Decisive strike at labour office today

   Reaching no conclusion after eleven days of strike in more than fifty power loom factories of Ludhiana's Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar and Madhopuri areas the workers in the leadership of Karkhana Mazdoor Union organised a big meeting in front of Vardhman Mill yesterday which was attended by more than a thousand workers of different areas. It was decided in the meeting that a strike shall be called at the labour office today (September 27) which shall not be called off until the demands of the workers are met even if the strikers have to spend the night at the labour office.

Rajwinder, President Karkhana Mazdoor Union, said that the immorality of the labour office has reached its limit and they have no regard for their constituinal duties. The workers have been protesting for the last 11 days and their demands are very little and legitimate. There has been no significant increase in their wages for past 10-12 years while cost of living has gone up many times. The profits earned by owners at the expense of the workers have been soaring high but they are not willing to give a penny to the toiling workers. The workers live like slaves in this independent country whose rulers take great pride in calling it the biggest democracy of the world. While the owners only care for their profits the labour office is even less concerned about the condition of the workers. The labour officers shamelessly take the side of owners in every dispute between the owners and the workers. Rajwinder brought out the contrasting fact that the representatives of the people (Members of Parliament) recently voted to increase their salary by more than 300 per cent but they do not wish to give the majority of people living in wretched conditions even a rupee more. He said that enough was enough and the workers were not ready to tolerate it any more. They will not relent until their demands are fulfilled.

The meeting in front the Vardhman Mill today was attended by representatives of Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Moulder and Steel Worker's Union, Lok Ekta Sangthan, Mazdoor Chetana Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), D.I.F., D.T.F., AITUC and INTUC and they promised to provide every support to the strike of the power loom workers of Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar and Madhopuri areas of Ludhiana and announced their participation in the strike to be held today at the labour office. Rajwinder said that now no factory owner has the courage to suppress the striking workers any more. 

Released by Lakhwinder, Mobile: 096461 50249 
Secretary, Karkhana Mazdoor Union

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Ludhiana power loom workers strike enters into 9th day -- talks with owners remain inconclusive as of day 8

Power loom workers demonstrating in front of the Vardhman Mill, September 23, 2010
    
The strike of hundreds of power loom workers of Ludhiana's Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar and Madhopuri areas is still in progress. The round of conversations held with factory owners in presence of labour officials attained no results. The workers are demonstrating in front of the Vardhman Mill (Chandigarh Road) of Ludhiana. Rajwinder, president of Karkhana Mazdoor Union said today that there is great division among the factory owners and they could not reach a common understanding. They are more worried by the fact that if they bow to the demands of the workers today it will boost the confidence of the workers in their organisation and unity which will prove harmful for them in the long run. He said that the factory owners will have to submit to the demands of the workers. The workers' morale was high and they were determined to win their rights. 

    The strike of the power loom workers of Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar and Madhopuri areas of Ludhiana started from September 16. It started with the workers of 22 factories and now there are workers of about 52 factories participating in it. The workers of these factories and in general all factories of Ludhiana live in pathetic conditions. They toil daily for 12-14 hours but earn a meagre salary. Labour laws are non-existent in these factories. The workers are not even given identity cards. There are no security measures and workers keep losing their life and limb in deadly accidents which keep occurring every now and then. On 24th of August the workers of 42 factories of Shaktinagar, Tibba Road area striked against their owners and forced them to concede to their demands. The strike that successfully ended on 31st August has generated a wave of inspiration among the workers of other areas. 

    In the leadership of Karkhana Mazdoor Union the workers of Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar and Madhopuri are on strike for 8 days. The workers of Geeta Nagar area of Ludhiana are also on strike in the leadership of Hosiery and Textile Mazdoor Union (a union affiliated to CITU Panjab). Rajwinder said that they have been trying to coordinate their strike with the struggle of the Geeta Nagar area but havn't been able to achieve much due to the narrow-mindedness of the CITU leadership. 

Issued by, Lakhwinder, Mobile: 96461 50249 

Secretary, Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Ludhiana.



Saturday, September 18, 2010

The struggle of Ludhiana power loom workers


Workers of about three dozen power loom factories in Ludhiana's Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar, Madhopuri etc. areas are  on  strike from 16th September 2010 under the leadership of the Karkhana Mazdoor Union (KMU). The workers have revolted against their pathetic living conditions, total absence of labour laws, callous attitude of the factory owners and administration and the opportunistic behaviour of the established trade unions affiliated to parliamentary left parties. They are energised by the recent successful strikes in 42 power loom factories in Shaktinagar area and the Jindal Textiles factory.

 Ludhiana is among the big industrial cities in India and the industrial capital of Punjab. The main industries here are hosiery, bicycle, tyre, auto-parts, engineering etc. In recent years the workers in Ludhiana have been fighting for their basic rights e.g. the struggle of the thousands of workers of the big factories of Ludhiana such as Hero cycles, Rockman, Avon, Rolson, Highway, Garetave, Bajaj Sons etc; the militant struggle of the thousands of workers against the factory owners and police-bureaucracy after the Hindustan Tyres episode; the outburst of anger of the workers in December 2009 after the Dhandari episode, the workers hitting the road after a recent disappearance of a workers of Poddar Tyres. These outbursts are just a reflection of the terrible conditions of the life which the workers of Ludhiana are forced to live and the total failure of the governance system to protect even the basic rights of the workers. The anger of workers is expressed at times spontaneously and at other times in a planned and organised manner. It is because of this reason that most of the time section 144 of the Cr. P.C. is imposed in the industrial areas of Ludhiana which prohibits assembly of five or more persons and holding of public meetings besides other restrictions.
Most of the workers of Ludhiana are migrant workers coming from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They are treated as aliens in their own country. These workers are subject to abject poverty and extreme exploitation. Despite toiling for 12-14 hours a day, most of the time they do not even receive the minimum wages fixed for a helper for 8 hours work {Rs 3400 (less than 80 USD) monthly}. In case of the power loom workers, there has been no increment in the piece rates and wages for last 10-12 years while the prices of all basic necessities like food, housing, medical care, travel have been skyrocketing. On the other hand there has been manifold increase in the profit level of the factory owners.

The working condition of the power loom workers of Ludhiana is so difficult and so dangerous that it can at best be called inhuman. Serious injuries and deaths at workplace are quite common in the industrial areas.  Even basic safety measures and regulations are not implemented by the factory owners. Even the administration does not take any initiative to fulfil its constitutional obligation of implementing the labour laws in these areas. On the contrary in most of the cases, the administration is found connived with the factory owners to serve their interests. No labour law whatsoever is implemented in these factories. Provident Fund, Employees State Insurance, Job Card, Attendance Register have no existence here. The regional labour department is fully hand in glove with the errant factory owners and is suitably compensated for its services. Not only the factory owners have bought up the officials and police, they do not even hesitate to use the services of goons to intimidate the workers if they raise their voices for justice. In the Dhandari episode in December 2009, they unabashedly used the local goons called Bikers’ Gang to brutally attack the agitating workers. Even the police favoured the factory owners and held the workers responsible for the violence. The owners portray any agitation of workers as being launched by “outsiders” and the local politicians and regional media also take the side of the owners only.

The workers of Ludhiana have been fighting for their rights for years through the established trade unions. But of late they have begun to realise that it is because of the betrayal of the leadership of opportunistic and corrupt trade unions such as CITU and due to the lack of well planned strategy that they have not been able to put up an effective resistance and the factory owners manage to crush their struggle. In a number of struggles of workers of large factories of Ludhiana such as Hero Cycle, Rockman, KW,Avon, Rolson, Highway, Bajaj Sons, Moonlight etc since 2004, the opportunistic, compromising, corrupt and pro-management character of CITU has been thoroughly exposed before the workers.

The recent surge of militant agitation among the power loom workers of Ludhiana began with the strike of the 42 power loom factories of Shaktinagar, Tibba Road areas on 24th August 2010 under the leadership of the Karkhana Mazdoor Union. It was the apathetic attitude of the power loom factory owners which was mainly responsible for the inhuman conditions of living which forced the workers to halt the work and choose the path of strike. The main demands of the workers were: hike in the piece rates/wages, necessary provisions for the safety of the workers and implementing all the labour laws including identity cards, PF, ESI etc. The bold, organised and determined fight of the workers forced the power loom owners to relent and they were forced to agree to the demands of the workers. On 31st August the workers withdrew their strike after a written agreement with the owners. It was a glorious victory of the workers after a long time. A remarkable aspect of this victory was that the power loom owners were not only forced to hike the piece rates/wages but they also agreed to give half wages for the days of strike. It is very rare that the factory owners agree to pay for the days of strike. On the contrary, one can find many instances in the labour movement of Ludhiana like the shameful Avon Cycle agreement in which due to the compromising, pusillanimous character of the renegade leadership, the workers were forced to work for 9 days without pay as a punishment for going on strike.
After this a strike broke out in the Jindal Textile factory and there too it reached a successful culmination. It is noteworthy that this was after 18 years that a workers struggle had achieved such success in Ludhiana. During the last one and a half decade the workers of Ludhiana had fought many long struggles but they culminated in shameful defeat due to the betrayal of the established trade unions. The recent victory is important in this respect and it has raised the morale of the workers to a new high.         

Meanwhile, workers of some other power loom factories agitating under another union were brutally attacked by armed goons of the factory owners last week. Around 50 workers were wounded in this lethal attack, some of them seriosly. Karkhana Mazdoor Union has demanded the authorities to carry out an investigation and punish the culprits.

Taking inspiration from the recent successes in the Shaktinagar and Jindal factory strikes, hundreds of the power loom workers of about three dozen factories of Ludhiana's Gaushala, Kashmir Nagar, Madhopuri etc also decided to call a strike on 16th September 2010 under the leadership of the Karkhana Mazdoor Union. These workers are on a strike to force the factory owners to increase their piece rate/salary and to implement other basic rights. They are united and determined to make their strike successful. They have appealed to the fellow workers of other power loom factories who are yet to join the strike to come forward and join the strike to make the struggle more united and strong. Along with this the workers have also organised vigilant squads of their own against the possibility of fresh attacks by the factory owners. A great achievement of these strikes is that the workers are no longer terrified of the police and the goons of the owners. Moulder and Steel Workers Union of Ludhiana has supported the power loom workers in their strike. The workers have also distributed pamphlets among the civilian population explaining to them their wretched working and living conditions and the rationale behind their demands. They have also appealed to other factory workers of Ludhiana to support and join their strike. The workers have warned the officials of the labour department not to work as stooges of the factory owners and perform their constitutional duties otherwise their strike will become more vigorous.
On the third day of the strike i.e. on 18th September 2010, the henchmen of a factory owner attacked the KMU members who were distributing the leaflets in a market and also kidnapped two workers. Immediately hundreds of workers gathered outside the factory where the kidnapped workers were being held. The owner ran away and the workers were rescued. This was another psychological victory for the workers.

Contact for further information:
Rajwinder – 098886 55663, Lakhwinder – 096461 50249
Office: Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Pustkalaya, Gali No.5, Lakshman Nagar, Gyaspura, Ludhiana, Punjab

Some videos of Shaktinagar strike can be watched here: