A Conference of Activists concerned with developing an Independent program of Working People
Sunday, 5 October 2008, 10:00AM-5:00 PM
NRMU Welfare Hall, Parel, Mumbai.

Dear Friend,

On July 27th 2008, a public meeting was held in Mumbai to commemorate the centenary of the first General Political Strike of the Indian working class, namely the strike of the Mumbai working class led by the textile workers, from July 23rd to July 29th 1908, to protest the sentencing of Lokmanya Tilak to six years imprisonment by the British authorities.

This public meeting was held in the Railway Workshop Hall at Parel and was jointly organized by 15 working class and people’s organisations, namely, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), All India Federation of Trade Unions (AIFTU), Communist Ghadar Party of India, Girni Kamgar Sangarsh Samiti, Kamgar Ekta Chalwal, Kamgar Aghadi, Ladaku Garment Kamgar Union, Lok Raj Sanghathan, Lok Shasan Andolan, National Railway Mens Union (NRMU) , Sarva Shramik Sanghathan ,Sarva Shramik Sangh and Voltas Employees Union. In spite of pouring rains on this day , hundreds of workers braved the weather and filled the hall. At this public meeting, two resolutions were passed namely,

1) Support the All India strike on 20th August and resolves to work for its success.

2) Unite the working Class organisations around the common agenda of working class and bring this agenda to centre stage of Indian polity.

In support of the first resolution, a joint leaflet on behalf of most of the organisations above was brought out and distributed in different parts of Mumbai as well as on August 20th at the public meeting in Azad Maidan on the occasion of the All India Strike.

This was the 13th All India Strike called by working class organizations to protest the Program of Privatisation, Liberalisation and Globalisation, first launched in 1991 by the then Congress Govt.

While we have been vigorously opposing the program of the Big Capitalist Class, it is now the duty and responsibility of the Indian working class to put forward its own alternative vision and program for India’s development. This program will be based on the fact that the working class, by virtue of being the

creators of all the material and cultural wealth of society, and being its majority constituent, will set forth how the economy should be run to look after the well being of all working people as well as how to ensure that the Govt/State remains under its control to implement this program.

Hence to fulfill the above need and in support of the second resolution of the public meeting of July 27th, it has been decided to hold a one-day Parishad/vichar vimarsh for activists from different sections of the working class and working people on Sunday, October 5th 2008 from 10 am to 5 pm in the NRMU Welfare Hall, Parel, Mumbai. This parishad will be a forum for activists to express their views on what needs to be done to develop the Independent Agenda/Program of the Worki Class and which will counter the program of the bourgeoisie whose main thrust today is Globalisation through Privatisation and Liberalisation. This Parishad will also decide on the future course of action once the above agenda has been developed.

We call upon all the organizations of the working people’s and activists to take part in this one day Parishad.

With Greetings,

Centenary Organising Committee