#WorkersStrikeBack: Agri Unions, Unorganised Sector Workers in West Bengal to Join Strike in Big Way

Preparations for the country-wide general strike on January 8 and 9, called by a joint platform of 10 central trade unions and several independent federations, are on full swing in West Bengal. Workers and employees from all industrial sectors are going to participate in the strike, along with government employees, and workers from organised and unorganised sectors. Various farmers’ unions and agricultural workers’ unions have also extended their support to the strike. 

Over a month ago, on November 29, more than 50,000 people had marched from Singur to Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, demanding industrialisation in the state. That and later protests by suffering farmers have energised Bengal’s vast workforce. Public meetings and rallies are being organised in all districts of the state, and the common people have been participating in large numbers in these events.

Talking to Newsclick, Gargi Chatterjee, the district secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) for North 24 Parganas, said, “We have never seen this kind of massive response from the people before.” She said that all 21 jute mills in the district will remain closed during the two-day strike, and that appeals have been made to all the offices and schools. She added that they are expecting support from the unorganised sector, too.

On January 4, speaking at a programme in Kolkata, Ashok Dhawale, president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said, “On 8th and 9th January, when the country will observe general strike led by the trade unions, the agrarian population will parallelly observe Grameen Bharat Bandh against the anti-worker, anti-farmer policies of the union government. This coming together is an example of Mazdoor-Kisan-Naujawan unity which has taken to the centre stage, demands of the workers, farmers, agricultural labourers, and that of the youth of the country.”

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In the Paschim Burdwan district of West Bengal, especially in Durgapur, the industrial belt has suffered major setbacks in the past two decades. Talking to Newsclick, Pankaj Roy Sarkar, district secretariat member of CITU, said, “The advent of neo-liberal policies has massively affected the industrial belt in the district. The process of shutting down public sector undertakings, started by the Congress government, was accelerated during the NDA regime.”

He added, “Since Modi came to power in 2014, almost eight coal mines have been shut down, and almost 25 more are set to be shut down in near future. This has made the workers very angry.”

Sarkar said, “The state government will try to stop the strike by using violence and by deploying the police force. Mamata Banerjee keeps saying that she is against the Modi government, but the time has come for the chief minister to prove which side she is on. If she is really on the side of the people, she would not make attempts to stop the strike.”

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Debomita Chattopadhyay, district secretariat member of All India Democratic Women’s Association in Paschim Burdwan, said, “We can see the anger among the ordinary citizens against the policies of the Modi government. The industrial belt in our district, once one of the most important industrial belts in the country, has been almost converted into a desert. Thousands of people have lost their jobs.”

Talking to media on January 4, CPI(M) leader Surjya Kanta Mishra said that all central trade unions, apart from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), and All India Trinamool Congress-affiliated Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), will participate in the strike. He said that several supporters of these two trade unions have said that they will stand in solidarity with the workers going on strike.

Addressing the crowd at a public meeting, CPI(M) Politburo member Biman Basu said, “This strike is a fight against the anti-people and communal policies of the central government. The state government pretends that they are against the BJP government at the centre. But if they really were against the Modi government, why are they not supporting the strike?”

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