Railway Loading and Unloading Workers Union held its 3rd conference today at Railway Complex, Jammu. Holding red flags, banners and placards in their hands and shouting slogans enthusiastically against the anti-people policies of both the governments at Centre/state and in favour of the united sustained and strong struggle of working people to resolve their issues, the workers held an impressive open session rally at Panama Chowk, Jammu.
The rally passed through the Div.Com. . Railway morh, Narwal Chowk and culminated at Conference venue. The rally was led by Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, President of J&K CITU and MLA.
While addressing the conference, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, President J&K CITU said that gimmicks cannot forever fool the people, instead experience confirms that people draw lessons from emerging situations and make corrections.
The slogan of so-called new India by the BJP-led central government has exposed Modi so quickly by installing the Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh who is notorious for his divisive and communal utterances. This course has to be changed in order to defend the plural ethos of India. Working class along with democratic sections has to play an important role for this purpose. Working class cannot defend its rights and promote its struggle for better future unless it is linked with broader movement of the people against such brazenly communal forces. The working people of J&K have been struggling hard for their rights and they have to redouble their efforts to unitedly resist the emerging offensive curtailing their rights.
Addressing the conference, Om Prakash, General Secretary, J&K CITU said that through sustained struggle by the workers union, meager increase in the wages have been achieved but we need to continue the struggle strongly and persistently so that the immediate and important demands of the workers are resolved at the earliest. The workers have been working in the premises for more than 40 years and the nature of work of loading and unloading of cement, fertilizers etc. being health hazardous leading to deadly diseases like cancer, TB, Asthama leading to number of deaths annually. He demanded that the workers be provided masks, safety shoes, uniform as safety measures by their employer/contractor. All the workers hail from Bihar, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Nepal Uttar Pradesh, he said.
Sham Prasad Kesar, senior leader J&K CITU seriously viewed the plight of the poor workers who have not been provided safety measures, accommodation, medical facilities, drinking water, bath rooms etc. and also lambasted labour department and the employers for not covering the workers under the ambit of social security schemes including EPF, and ESI. Despite the fact that more than 500 workers are working in the premises but no safety or labour officer stands deputed by the concerned department to take care of their genuine rights. There seems to be a nexus between the contractors and the department to continue the exploitation of the workers and no steps are being taken to implement the labour laws like provision of minimum wages, working hours, safety measures etc.
Kailash Chander Nayak, General Secretary of the union padi his thanks to the state committee and appreciated its role in organizing and educating the workers in regard to their rights and protracted struggles. He exhorted the workers that only way of resolving of the workers issues is to continue the strong and protracted struggles to pressurize the management/contractors/
1/increase in wages by 50%; 2/ Providing safety measures, uniform, shoes, masks and gurh to all workers; 3/ suitable accommodation with bath rooms, safe drinking water; 4/ provision of ESI benefits, gratuity, compensation for injury/death, weekly paid rest, overtime, dispensary and canteen facilities at work place; union office, to and fro free travelling in railways from Jammu to native places; 5/ implementation of the Supreme Court direction for equal pay for equal work.
A committee was unanimously elected with Comrade Kailash Chander Nayak as its General Secretary.