The Hindu : Protest against SC verdict on strikes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 09, 2003

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Protest against SC verdict on strikes

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 8. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) activists today held a demonstration outside the Supreme Court to protest against its order depriving Government employees and trade unions of the right to strike, even as the CPI(M) asked the Government to clarify it's stand on the judgment.

Talking to presspersons, the CPI(M) leader, Somnath Chatterjee, said the Government and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties were "conspicuously" silent over the issue.

Describing the "right to strike" as the culmination of collective bargaining process and the last resort for workers, he said this right was no one's charity, neither was it a bounty of the judiciary. "It has been earned through hard struggle,'' he said, adding that the apex court order would close the door for collective action.

There was no word of admonition in the judgment of the employers — the State Government — which "flouted" the service rule of its own employees. This was a negation of the ILO charter, the fundamental rights, the Industrial Disputes Act as well as the service rules.

The CPI(ML) activists said the order strengthened the "arbitrary power of State actions."

It also strengthened the general trend to curtail the democratic rights of the working people in various ways.

The CPI(ML) will launch "Save Democracy Campaign" from August 15 to November 15 to defend people's rights and thwart the growing "imperialist fascist offensive" by the Sangh Parivar. It also expressed serious concern over the Supreme Court "ban" on employees right to strike.

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