In spite of the repeated demands of all sections of the working class to repeal the four labour codes like the farm laws, the Modi government has gifted it to them as an aftermath of its Bihar victory.
In short, these new codes will empower the capitalist class to hire and fire, will put the majority out of the purview of most of the labour laws, will pull down their already minimal contribution to the social security, will bring down workers’ wage component and will give ample scope to play with the duty hours including night shifts of working women.
We would like to ask the RSS-BJP leaders enjoying the mandarins of power from Nagpur to Delhi to seek lessons from the annals of the Indian freedom struggle.
A country and its working class, which was reeling under the colonial exploitation before independence with infant mortality rates to the tune of more than 50 per cent in the labour chowks of the then most industrialised Mumbai, shook off their chains of servitude to rally around the freedom struggle.
Any effort by the RSS-led present BJP regime, which shied away from fighting this colonial brutality then, to bring back the class exploitation reminiscent of the medieval and colonial rule, like trying to impose a floor wage of Rs 178/- per day, will be forthrightly replied by the working masses.
The Modi government must be ashamed of its 2014 poll promises of 2 crore jobs per year and doubling of farm income by 2022, and must seek an apology from the farmers and youth of this country.
United struggles of the youth, farmers and the working class in the coming days will make sure that we defend every single right achieved by the arduous struggle of our forbearers.
As a mark of spontaneous protest, the CITU Delhi state committee calls upon all its district units and unions to organise protest meetings at factory gates and industrial areas on November 22.