Report of the National Council Meeting of AICCTU Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 10-11 July 2022

National Situation and Our Tasks

The first meeting of the national council of AICCTU was held at Coimbatore on 10 – 11 July 2022 after the all-India conference in early 2020. Due to Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns, we could not hold the meeting, despite managing to hold the meetings of Office-Bearers and the Central Working Committee (CWC) physically, in addition to some online meetings.

The most unprecedented development immediately following our conference was the Corona pandemic (Covid 19) that inflicted all countries across the globe, including India. The Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns imposed by the Modi government, especially the first one, forced unlimited miseries on the common people. In addition, the death of lakhs of people also exposed the extremely rotten condition of public health care system of our country. The country also witnessed unprecedented sufferings – including deaths – of migrant workers, unorganized workers and various other sections of frontline workers. 

The most essential and barbarous feature of this Covid period was the Modi regime’s inhuman tactics of converting the pandemic crisis – the worst ever crisis facing the humanity – into an opportunity to aggressively push its corporate, communal fascist agenda by reinforcing the corporate stranglehold over the country, the assets, the wealth, the people, and the working class. 

Along with the corporate takeover, the communal stranglehold over the people and their minds continued with the Hindu/Muslim narrative fomenting communal hatred and venom, particularly targeting Muslims. It led us towards a sharper communal polarization and helped facilitate the project of building a Hindu Rashtra. The BJP’s goal of communal polarization not only diverted the peoples’ attention from the burning issues and dented the peoples’ unity, but it also increased the influence of the BJP brand of politics on the common and poor people. There was a lot of resentment and agitations against the regime, but at the same time, the BJP’s influence also seemed to have grown in this period. 

Record job-loss and price-rise, along with the nose-diving of the economy, massive retrenchment, and wage cuts, all-out contractualisation of work force, skyrocketing poverty, and inequality, have been the stories of these times. In the midst of all these, the enactment of 4 labour codes, which forced workers into slavery, marked a brutal attack on the working class. 

The dismantling of all welfare boards, social security systems and replacing them with the ‘e-shram Portal’, the policy of monetization for wholesale privatization of all public sector undertakings and government departments including those of strategic importance  like railways, defense, banks and insurance, the enactment of three Farm Acts for corporate takeover of agriculture and the land; the inauguration of the Agnipath scheme to contractualise and at the same time, to saffronise and to privatise the army of the country; the enactment of the Essential Defense Services Act (EDSA) to snatch away the defense workers’ right to strike and even to protest; the strengthening of the regime of oppressive laws and diktats subverting the constitution - have all defined the Covid years. These years have also witnessed quite a bit of resistance by the people, but the expressions of resistance have been severely restricted under the pretext of Covid protocols.  

Even after the passing of the worst ever pandemic, the contractual and other informal workers are being thrown out of jobs in lakhs. Many of the contractual health, scheme, sanitation, and other frontline workers, who played the role of Covid warriors during the pandemic and who were also promised job permanency and benefits, have also been thrown out of employment. Now, the entire agenda of the RSS-BJP is embodied in the “Bulldozer Raj”.

The movement of farmers against the Farm Acts, during this period, is a historic development from the point of view of peoples’ movements. The movement has struck a big blow to the arrogance of the Modi government, by compelling it to scrap the farm Acts. This movement has proved to be highly inspirational for the peoples’ movements. And very recently, in the month of June, the country witnessed an unprecedented outburst of youth and students against the Agnipath scheme of the Modi government. 

Thus, while the attacks against the working class and various other sections of masses have been brutal and mighty, many have resisted these attacks braving the repressive Modi regime. The issues like unemployment, price-rise, restoration of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), etc., have found their echo in several assembly elections held in this period and some  state governments ruled by parties other than the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) have also gone to the extent of declaring the withdrawal of New Pension Scheme (NPS). 

The resistance has also resulted in slowing down the central government’s pace of implementation of some controversial laws. Yet, when it comes to the question of Labour codes, none of the state governments, including the non-BJP governments, have rejected them.  Rather, all are hastily making rules now for its implementation in their states. It is the same with the various policies and steps related to privatization and other anti-worker measures. There is a consensus – a corporate consensus – on these matters, among the ruling class. The united trade union movement, despite repeatedly resorting to strike action, has not proved strong enough to resist the attacks. This is also, of course, due to various inherent problems of the movement. So, the issue of utmost and urgent importance is the building of a powerful resistance movement towards withdrawal of these disastrous policies and steps, and of course, to oust the Modi government, which is the most concentrated expression and the symbol of corporate attacks on the working class.     

Obviously, the resistance of the working class cannot be limited to the fight against the pro-corporate agenda of the Modi government alone. In equal force, it must also combat and thwart the all-pervasive communal, fascist agenda of the Modi government. We should do all to prevent any tactics of the ruling class to divert or divide the working class of the country. The worst ever challenge since the country’s independence is looming large over the working class, the common people, and the country under the Modi government now. 

This ‘new normal’ situation demands a new, extraordinary preparedness on our behalf. Let us prepare our organization to meet the toughest challenge of our times before the working class and the people at large.