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Grèves en Inde

samedi 15 novembre 2008, par Robert Paris

grèves en Inde

Inde : des millions de personnes en grève contre l’inflation
Des millions d’employés des aéroports, gares et banques en Inde étaient en grève mercredi pour protester contre l’inflation au plus haut depuis 13 ans et contre la politique jugée "antisociale" du gouvernement.

Ce mouvement social d’envergure, organisé à l’appel des syndicats marxistes, s’inscrit dans un contexte politique délicat pour la coalition de centre-gauche conduite par le Parti du Congrès de Sonia Gandhi au pouvoir depuis mai 2004 et qui a perdu en juillet le soutien au Parlement de quatre partis de gauche, à quelques mois des élections législatives.

La grève est nationale mais elle est particulièrement suivie dans l’Etat du Bengale occidental (est) dirigé par le Parti communiste indien.

D’après le secrétaire général du Congrès des syndicats du commerce de l’Inde, Gurudas Das Gupta, des millions de travailleurs ont cessé le travail, y compris dans l’industrie de pointe des télécommunications, laissant augurer d’un "grand succès pour cette grève".

"Ce mouvement est un avertissement lancé au gouvernement pour qu’il ne dorlote ni ne gâte les entreprises et les spéculateurs locaux et étrangers au détriment des droits du peuple qui travaille dur", prévient un communiqué de l’union syndicale.

"Premières victimes" de la grève, les vols entre Calcutta, la capitale du Bengale occidentale, et New Delhi ont été annulés jusqu’à jeudi, selon des responsables aéroportuaires.

Les transports ferroviaires et routiers dans l’est tournent aussi au ralenti et les administrations et entreprises sont désertes. Près d’un million d’employés de banques sont également en grève pour protester contre des projets de fusions dans le secteur bancaire public.

Pour prévenir tout débordement, 10.000 membres des forces de l’ordre ont été déployés au Bengale occidental, selon l’officier de la police régionale, Raj Kanojia.

L’inflation en Inde atteint un taux de 12,4%, un record depuis 1995 dopé par la flambée mondiale des prix du pétrole et de l’alimentation. Des législatives doivent se tenir d’ici à mai 2009 et la coalition gouvernementale "progressiste" risque une sanction au profit des nationalistes hindous de droite du Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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Indian energy workers end strike after scenes of panic

By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi

Published : January 10 2009 02:00 | Last updated : January 10 2009 02:00

India was gripped by panic yesterday as a three-day strike by 55,000 white collar employees of state-owned energy companies led to fuel shortages affecting transport and businesses throughout the country.

The strike finally ended last night as energy company employees - confronted by public wrath and threats of arrest and prosecution - caved in and returned to work. But oil industry officials said it would take days for the situation to return to normal. A separate truckers strike is hindering distribution.

Almost 60 per cent of petrol pumps ran dry yesterday as filling stations were hit by panic buying. Huge queues at the few petrol pumps still running caused jams in urban centres.

Airlines were also scrambling as jet fuel supplies at some smaller airports dried up, forcing aircraft to top up at larger cities or divert their routes - causing widespread delays and higher operating costs. Power plants were reportedly running short of fuel, raising the spectre of power cuts.

India’s Congress-led government deployed the armed forces to operate refineries and man petrol pumps in an attempt to keep fuel supplies flowing.

P. Chidambaram, home minister, lashed out at the oil workers and demanded an end to the industrial action. "They must recognise the intolerable burden they are placing on the people of India," he said. "How will families cook food for their children if gas is not available ? How will fertiliser factories and power plants run ?

"The oil sector officers must recognise there are ways to resolve their grievances and strike is not the way," he said.

Indian oil sector workers went on strike to demand higher wages. Their action incurred the public’s wrath. "This is nothing short of economic terrorism - holding the country to ransom," said an irate aviation industry executive.

India’s economy, already reeling from the Mumbai terror attacks, the crisis at Satyam and the global downturn, could face more paralysing industrial unrest in the run-up to elections in the months ahead.

"The timing and confluence of these different union and industry groups coming together is typically related to the build-up of elections," said Subir Gokarn, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s.

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Strike of Rice Millers

9 jnuary 2009

Livelihood of about three lakh workers has been severely affected in Chhattisgarh as the indefinite strike called by rice millers entered its fifth day today.
Rice millers today said that they would not start operation till the government agreed to their demand.

We are not withdrawing from the strike till the state government responds positively to our demands, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Rice Millers Association&aposs general secretary Pramod Jain told PTI today.

" There was virtually no initiative from the state government to sort-out our demand. So we are not withdrawing," Jain said.

Rice millers halted operations from January 5 demanding a hike in the custom milling rate of paddy from Rs 35 to Rs 80. A proposal by the state government to raise it to Rs 45 couple of days ago was squarely rejected by them.

The non-purchase of paddy from Mandis by the rice millers has also crippled down the work in the Mandis across the state. There are 73 Mandis and 110 sub-mandis in Chhattisgarh.

The strike has affected about 1.5 lakh workers employed by rice millers as well as an equal number of people who get work at the Mandis and sub-mandis in the state, Jain said.

suite à venir ...

Messages

  • One million employees from nearly 80,000 branches of state and private sector banks in India joined a one-day strike on July 29, chiefly against the privatisation of state-owned banks by the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP)-led government.

    India’s financial sectors were virtually paralysed, affecting about 75 percent of the daily average of paper-clearing transactions. The strike was called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine trade unions.

    Lack of recruitment over the past two decades has led to more than 300,000 vacancies in the public sector banks, increasing the workload of the remaining workers. Bank employees are also opposing the outsourcing of jobs and demanding that new appointments be made through the Banking Services Recruitment Board.

    The privatisation and merger of state banks is part of the government’s broader plan to privatise public enterprises to attract foreign investment. In June, the government announced it was opening up nine previously restricted economic sectors, including civil aviation, single-brand retail stores such as Apple and IKEA, pharmaceuticals and military production, to 100 percent foreign direct investment and ownership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi boasted that India would be “the most open economy in the world for FDI.”

    Fearing that the strike would spread into other sectors, Chief Central Labour Commissioner A. S. Nayak called a “conciliation” meeting on July 26, which was attended by the unions, the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the finance ministry. He appealed for “dialogue so that this strike is averted.”

    The UFBU was nevertheless compelled to go ahead with the strike because of growing restiveness among bank employees against the government’s move to privatise banks, which would result in the destruction of tens of thousands of jobs and hard-won conditions.

  • The July 29 strike was limited to one day and isolated from workers in other industries who face similar attacks. All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) general secretary S. Nagarajan, told the press that the strike was only a “warm-up” to a “bigger” one. In reality, the union officials are working with the government to shut down the struggle as soon as possible.

    Early last year, when the bank unions called for a 25 percent pay rise, the IBA refused and the unions later agreed to just 15 percent. “Our members are happy with the hike,” All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam claimed. Highlighting the subservient role of the unions, he added : “I hope the settlement now will motivate people to work hard to achieve new objectives for the banking industry and set new standards towards customer satisfaction.”

    All nine unions in the UFBU participated in the latest negotiations. Undoubtedly, the aim of such talks was to scuttle the workers’ opposition. Several UFBU unions are affiliated to the Stalinist parties that have long supported or participated in Indian governments.

    Both the AIBEA and AIBOA are linked to the trade union wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Another union, the BEFI, has fraternal relations with the Centre of India Trade Unions, which is affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM. Both parties have worked with successive governments to implement pro-market “reforms.”

    The bank workers’ strike is part of the emerging class struggles in India and globally triggered by the deepening global capitalist slump. However, the unions are attempting to contain the confrontation.

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