Protest against attempts to crush workers' rightful agitation by branding its leaders as "terrorists playing in the hands of Church!"

To:  The Chief Minister of U.P., India

We would like to draw your attention to the plight of more than 1000 industrial workers of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh who are demanding minimum wages and other basic rights, the threats faced by their peaceful and rightful agitation and the slanderous campaign being run by local capitalists-administration-police-politician nexus.

A brief background

The agitation of the workers of two factories, Modern Laminators Ltd. and Modern Packaging Pvt. Ltd., in a small town Gorakhpur, situated in the backward Earstern UP region of India, has been going on for last one and half month. Their voice is not being heard anywhere. Goons of the factory owners and the police administration have been continuously threatening and trying to provoke the workers. The Deputy Labour Commissioner and district administration are merely delaying and trying to tire out the workers while their families are on the verge of starvation. They have tried every possible constitutional method but have failed to get any result. The local industrialists, administration and a section of politicians, including the local BJP MP, Yogi Adityanath, have ganged up against them and have launched a sinister smear campaign branding them as "Maoist terrorists" and the worker's movement as a "terrorist conspiracy" to destabilise Eastern UP. The BJP MP is also trying to communalise the issue by alleging involvement of a church in the workers' agitation!!
The administration is trying all the tricks to implicate the leaders in false cases to crush the movement. Some journalists sympathetic to the workers agitation in Gorakhpur have informed that the police may resort to even more sinister things. The goons of the factory owners as well as the local MP may also go to any extent to "teach a lesson" to the workers!
(You can see news clippings about this agitation and statements of the the BJP MP and industrialist here (http://bigulakhbar.blogspot.com/. These are only in Hindi as there no English newspapers published from Gorakhpur.)

What exactly are the demands of workers?

Their only "crime" is that they are demanding enforcement of some of the basic provisions of the existing labour laws. On August 3, around 1000 workers of Modern Laminators Ltd. and Modern Packaging Pvt. Ltd gave a notice to the factory management and the Dy Labour Commissioner putting forward their lawful demands including payment of minimum wages and basic safety provisions, job card, pay slip, E.S.I. and P.F. facilities. The workers have to work for 12-14 hours, they work in unbearable heat and pollution due to melting plastic with not even proper ventilation and drinking water. Most of the workers suffer from various diseases due to working in these conditions. Ten rounds of talks have been held till date without any result with the owners keeping away from the talks.

"Strike" or illegal lock out?

After the talks on 21 August, factory gates were closed for the workers in the night without any prior notice. Some machines were dismantled and sent outside. The D.L.C. and district administration were informed about the incident but no one took any action. Thus, the factory gates were closed by the owners themselves and workers were declared "illegal strikers". On 13th September, a lock out notice was displayed on the factory gate till further notice.

Who is hampering the industrial development of Eastern UP?

The owners are accusing the workers of hampering the industrial development of Eastern UP. The M.P. of the area, Yogi Adityanath is also speaking the same language. Fact is that those responsible for hampering the industrial development are the owners who exploit the workers ruthlessly and are not willing to pay even minimum survival wages and are making a mockery of the labour laws. The workers are prepared to work for the industrial development by tightening their belts but at least they should get their minimum wages.

Who is disturbing the industrial peace of Eastern UP?

The reign of terror launched by factory owners and police administration -- where should the workers go to seek justice?
By conducting meetings and issuing statements in media, the industrialists of Gorakhpur are accusing the workers of disturbing the industrial peace of Eastern UP. The M.P. of the area is also making the same allegation. The fact is that illegal activities such as closing the factory gates for the workers and sending out the looms have been carried out by the factory owners, are causing industrial unrest and the district administration is hand in glove in these activities. Some politicians are making the matter worse by making provocative speeches. We workers have to feed our families. Why would we create problems for ourselves by halting the production and spreading unrest?
The workers are running a collective kitchen for workers and their families by collecting donations and rations from the city and neighbouring villages. But police wants to close this down as well. D.I.G., Gorakhpur is taking special interest in this.
Direct and indirect threats are being given by some police officers that some workers' leaders would be killed in encounter by terming them as "Maoist" or "terrorist" and others would be implicated in false cases of instigating workers and disrupting peace and forced to leave the district.
Where should the workers appeal against this reign of terror by the factory owners and administration? The media highlights the statements of the owners and politicians but there is very little effort to understand the workers' standpoint.
The workers have not gone on strike, rather the owners have forced them to leave the factory. They are merely demanding the enforcement of minimum wages and some (not all) of the provisions of labour laws. But all the industrialists, local administration and some politicians including the local BJP MP have ganged up against them. The police are behaving like hired goons of the factory owners.

We strongly condemn these efforts to crush a genuine and peaceful agitation of workers for their basic rights and appeal to you to intervene in this issue and stop any conspiratorial repressive actions against the labour leaders and provide justice to the workers and their families.



Address of the committee spearheading the movement:
Sanyukta Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Morcha
(Joint Workers Rights Struggle Forum)
LIG-II, 414, Vikas Nagar, Bargadwa, Gorakhpur
Mobile No. 094154 62164, 09454643627, 09506163161, 09794756242
Email: tapish.m@gmail.com

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Protest against attempts to crush workers' rightful agitation by branding its leaders as "terrorists playing in the hands of Church!" Petition to The Chief Minister of U.P., India was created by OK and written by Sandeep Sharma (sandeep.samwad@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.