Highlighting that the conditions of labourers have worsened over the years, G. Ramakrishnan, State Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that political organisation of the workers across various sectors was the need of the hour to tackle the problems.
Addressing a public meeting organised by All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) as part of May Day celebrations here on Monday, Mr. Ramakrishnan said that while the labour force was coming out to struggle for their causes, they must become a political force to bring change.
Alleging that 70 years of Independence had not brought any considerable positive changes for workers, he said that the situation had instead worsened in several aspects.
“Neither the Congress, which ruled at the Centre for majority of the years, or the BJP that is ruling now, had brought any improvement to the workers. The situation is the same in Tamil Nadu under the rule of the DMK and the AIADMK,” he said.
Stating that the country was witnessing a ‘jobless growth,’ he claimed that 93 % of the workforce in India was in the unorganised sector at present. In Tamil Nadu, 83 lakh educated youngsters had registered in the employment office and were awaiting jobs, he added.
He said that inequality had also increased considerably over the past few years. “In the two years of BJP rule at the Centre, the percentage of country’s total wealth owned by the top 1 % of the population had increased from 49% to 58%,” he claimed.
Pointing out that Right-wing conservative forces were ascending to power in many countries, Mr. Ramakrishnan said that the labour force had a crucial role to play in fighting these forces.
“It is welcoming to see the struggle being mounted in the US against President Donal Trump, particularly by those from the working class,” he said.
Reiterating the point stressed by other speakers in the meeting regarding the need for joint struggle by CITU and AITUC, he said that both CITU and AITUC had already been working together and the unity would only strengthen in the future.
