March 2012 – Page 4 – New Socialist Alternative

100 Million+ Indian Workers took United Strike action

9 March 2012

Gulliver Un-chained !

28th February class action was India’s 14th general strike since the country opened up its economy to aggressive neo-liberal reforms in 1991 and without any exaggeration this was the biggest, surpassing all records of the past.

It is indeed not a coincidence that the Indian capitalist press, barring very few, struggled to play down the success and the enthusiastic participation of the workers in the 28th February General strike. What ever be the skills of these ‘pen-pushers’ (or should we say ‘type-techs’) it was more than evident that the period of struggle of the Indian Working Class has arrived. In every Major city of India including different ‘Silicon Valleys’ the strike did have a telling effect which was more than evident from what the bourgeois media cried as “disruption” of normal life. read more

International Women’s Day-2012: The fight for fundamental change in society will be led by women

8 March 2012

Historically , world over, the women have often played a very militant and successful role in bringing about social reforms and political changes. But in India, the residual effect of landlord-ism and the grotesque capitalist practices, have pushed women to remain just as objects of sexual glorification and machines of reproduction to cater to the needs of the system itself. read more

International Women’s Day 2012: Remembering the struggles & victories of women workers

8 March 2012

For more than a century, 8 March has been the day to commemorate and celebrate the fight of working class and revolutionary women for a better deal and a socialist society.

Its origins are in the struggles for equal pay and decent conditions amongst women in the USA in the 19th century.

On 8 March, 1857, garment workers in New York City marched and picketed, demanding improved working conditions, a ten hour day, and equal rights for women. Their ranks were broken up by the police. Fifty-one years later, 8 March, 1908, their sisters in the needle trades in New York marched again, honouring the 1857 march, demanding the vote, and an end to sweatshops and child labour. The police were present on this occasion too. read more

Bangalore Turf Club Syces urgently need your Support & Solidarity

6 March 2012

“We have families even if we are not allowed to stay with them. The money we get for this labor is not enough to sustain our families. Earlier before inflation it was ok. Now even if we live besides the horses and send most of our money home, it is not enough”.

Film Review: Look for the Small Print

4 March 2012

‘Look for the Small Print’, a documentary film made by Jobin K Andrews, was screened on 3rd March 2012 at SCM Hall, Bangalore. The film screening was organized by Peoples’ Solidarity Concerns-Bangalore (that includes the New Socialist Alternative – CWI India).

The film depicts the impact of globalisation on the personal lives of especially software professionals, in the Silicon Valley of India – Bangalore, by centring around a typical working day in the life of a fictional young family. The film revolves around the precarious lifestyles of these young people in Urban India today, which while embracing the materialism of the west, is yet to come to terms with issues ranging from job insecurity, work pressure, marital discord to the issue of environmental degradation that is happening all round, under capitalist globalisation. read more