Working Class

Trade Unions

Bank Workers Intensify Their Struggle

12 November 2021

The Indian government had been slowly privatising all the state banks in recent years. While canceling the debt of the super rich and changing various laws and regulations to aid the private banking system the government also continued to attack the workers’ conditions, wages, and union rights. This had resulted in a number of militant struggles by bank workers. Workers in Catholic Syrian Bank Limited (CSB) are also planning a number of actions in the coming month. What had taken place with CSB sheds light on the horrific situation that all bank workers are facing in general. read more

Karnataka

There is a limit to being and getting oppressed!

13 December 2020
The anger and violence that broke out in the morning hours of 12th December at the Wistron Corp, a Taiwanese owned factory, at Narasapur 60 km Bangalore, where 10,000 workers were working mainly on a contract basis, is a result of the continued exploitation of the workers from the nearby rural areas whose land had been acquired with a promise of well-paid jobs.

It is reported that the company which is manufacturing the high-end Apple brand ‘i Phones’ and other electronic white goods, was paying very low wages to the workers at the factory, and had not raised the wages commensurate even with the woefully inadequate Minimum Wages “fixed” by the state and central governments. read more

New Socialist Alternative, Pune intervening during the General Strike.
General Strike

26th November- India’s working class flexes its muscles

4 December 2020

India’s Working Class resolutely flexes its Strength

Despite the widespread repression under this blatantly right-wing BJP-Modi regime, the all India General Strike on 26 November by working people involving more than 250 million workers (Joint Committee of Trade Unions- JCTU have claimed the number as 300 million-plus) seems to have set the tone for the battles ahead. read more

Analysis

Draconian changes to India’s labour laws!

21 June 2020

Labour “reforms” – India goes back in time

Given the COVID-19 situation, though not with the same enthusiasm, nevertheless the entire world celebrated workers May Day recently. Ironically, here in India in the same month of May, antithetical to the ideal of May Day the major states of India moved to destroy the hard-won gains of the working class. The states ruled by BJP have amended the labour laws heavily favouring the capitalist class. The other state governments in India are also planning to implement these draconian changes in labour laws. read more

Health

Joint statement in support of the Public Health Service Campaign.

16 April 2020


Image Courtesy: Economic Times

Corona is certainly a dangerous Virus but the reason it has turned into a pandemic is certainly the making of capitalism. Decades of reckless policies of neo-liberalism led to constant neglect of public health care services to facilitate entry and expansion of private capital. It has turned even the basic health facilities into a profiteering business.
The fundamental antagonism between the interests of the capital and that of people has been most glaringly brought to the fore by the Supreme Court judgement last week (8th April) mandating testing of Corona cases to be carried out free of charge. Now even this decision has been reversed at the behest of central government paving the way for private labs to charge hefty money for Corona testing. This could have grave consequences considering acute lack of testing facilities on the one side and intense economic misery faced by the majority of India’s population. It is on this backdrop that many organizations and trade unions in Maharashtra came together to protest such a scandalous move by the central government demanding the immediate take over of private Hospitals and Laboratories.
This protest campaign initiated by New Socialist Alternative has produced a joint statement endorsed by participating Trade Unions and Peoples’ Organisations. We appeal to all Trade Unions, Left forces and progressive organisations across the country to endorse this joint appeal and help build a struggle against the bosses system that is out to profit out of peoples misery. read more