GUWAHATI, Aug 19 � Different trade unions including INTUC, CITU, AITUC, AICCTU, HMS, AIUTUC and TUCC have appealed to all concerned including workers, employees and the general public to make the nationwide general strike in support of their five-point charter of demands on September 7 a success.
In a statement the trade unions said that the policies of liberalization had affected the common people, especially the working class, extremely hard. �Prices of essential commodities including food stuff have skyrocketed, with inflation shooting up to 17 per cent. Nothing has been done to streamline and universalize the public distribution system which could have offered much solace to the people,� they said.
Vehemently opposing the Center�s policy of selling out Public Sector Undertakings (PSU)s to the capitalists, the organizations said that even profit-making PSUs were not being spared. �Such steps are anti-people and can benefit only the capitalists,� they said.
Alleging that the owners of big trade and industry houses were violating all laws and rules and subjecting the working class to unimaginable exploitation the organizations said that the Centre was turning a blind eye to the developments. �As many as 93 per cent of the workers are engaged in the unorganized sector, and therefore it is essential that the Unorganized Sector Workers� Social Security Act 2008 is implemented in its letter and spirit,� they said.
As part of their preparation for the general strike, a State-level convention of the trade unions will be held at the Bishnu Nirmala auditorium at 11 am on August 21.
