GUWAHATI, Feb 23 � The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Assam State Committee, has appealed to the workers engaged in all sectors as well as the general public to make the all-India general strike in protest against the "anti-worker and anti-people" policy of the Congress-led UPA Government on February 28.
In a statement, the AICCTU said that the Centre was working at the behest of the imperial forces comprising multi-national corporations and big corporate and in line with globalization and liberalization policies pursued by the capitalists.
�On the one hand, the situation is triggering unprecedented corruption as evident from the spurt in the number of huge scams, and on the other hand, it is putting an unbearable financial burden on the poor, the working class and the common masses,� it said.
The AICCTU said that in the name of liberalisation, vital welfare sectors such as health, education, etc., had been subjected to �unabated loot and plundering� by the corporate while the burgeoning number of the unemployed were staring at a bleak future. �The workers in the unorganized sectors have been among the worst-hit, as they have do not have any job security been left out of the purview of job security and guarantee, due remuneration, job dignity and social security. This is despite the fact that the workers in unorganized sectors constitute the lion's share of the country's total work force, and render services at par with permanent workers and employees,� it said.
It further said that the tea workers were leading a pathetic life with low wages. �They are getting wage at the rate of Rs 71.50 a day whereas workers under the NREGA were getting wage at Rs 130 a day,� it said.
The Gauhati Division Insurance Employees' Association has also extended support to the all-India strike. It called for stopping disinvestment of profit-making PSUs, withdrawal of the PFRDA Bill and the New Pension Scheme, initiation of concrete measures to control price rise, checking of increased FDI in the insurance sector, and leaving one more option for public sector insurance employees to join the 1995 Pension Scheme and improvement in the Pension Scheme of 1995.
