WFTU Delegation visited Coimbatore, India on the grand occasion of the 41st AITUC All India Conference taking place on 25-28 February 2016.
General Secretary, George Mavrikos addressed the following greeting message to the delegates:
“On this great occasion of your National Congress, I am happy to be amongst you. To celebrate this glorious day with you and to convey to you the warm fraternal red salute from the workers of world who are represented by the World Federation of Trade Unions today: 92 million workers in 126 countries.
May your congress be successful, equivalent to the heroic history of AITUC, the mother of the Indian class-oriented trade union movement. May your congress be successful for the benefit of the working class of India, for the unity of the class-oriented trade union movement in India, for the betterment of the working people in Asia-Pacific and Internationally.
We express our solidarity to the struggle of the Indian working class and we fully back the Charter of demands for the betterment of the workers lives in India.
The completion of the 95 years of AITUC is a glorious anniversary full of heroic struggles for the workers’ rights and for the country’s freedom. AITUC has been playing a leading role in forging united struggles in India against neo-liberal economic policies and continuous to do so today with pivotal contribution to the massive General Strikes and Demonstrations that have send a strong message nationally and worldwide.
Since the foundation of the WFTU in 1945, AITUC has been an integral part of the WFTU class-oriented family and AITUC leaders have played important role and held important positions in WFTU leadership. Leaders like comrade S A Dange, Com Indrajit Gupta, Com. KL Mahendra have been historic leaders of WFTU forming the unity of the class-oriented trade union movement worldwide.
Now Com Mahadevan is the Dy. General Secretary and Head of the Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Com C H Venkatachalam of AIBEA is in charge of TUIBIFU and is also president of Finance Control Commission.
As WFTU is growing its ranks, as WFTU is enriching is action and presence in all countries of the world and while the monopolies, multinationals and their governments intensify their attack against workers rights regionally and internationally, we need more leaders of AITUC to be involved in the struggles of WFTU. Because, comrades, our national struggles can become stronger and more effective with internationalist solidarity and fraternal support by our brothers fighting across the world.
Dear comrades,
Your Congress is correctly analyzing the world we live in today and the conditions in which the workers struggle takes place. In these times the International Working Class is affected by:
– The International Capitalist Crisis.
A crisis which grows the competition between the monopolies and forces the implementation of anti-labour and anti-peoples policies. This way they want to make the popular strata pay for the crisis of capitalism. A crisis they did not creat. The labour, social and trade union rights are under attack. Privatizations and extreme unemployment rate. The quality of life is degrading.
– The inter-imperialist contradictions that generate new wars and conflicts.
For the control of natural resources, markets, roads of transport of goods and the control of new territories, the competition between the imperialist forces and their satellites is being intensified day by day generating new wars, conflicts and interventions in various countries. The misery and poverty generated by the imperialist wars can be witnessed in Syria, in Libya, in Iraq, in Ukraine.
– The struggle of the working class and the popular strata worldwide.
Struggles unfolded in all parts of the world during the past years. Many of them great and heroic had to deal with the brutal response of authorities and the capitalists who responded to the fair struggle with arrests, imprisonments of militants and even murder of trade unionists. The workers struggle against the anti-labor and neoliberal anti-people policies is the positive perspective that can open new roads for the reconstruction of the trade union movement.
The working class needs stronger, more dynamic, more mass, more class-oriented, trade union movement, Trade unions with deep and stable roots within the industries, within the multinationals and within all sectors, to defend its rights and demand “the satisfaction of its contemporary needs against poverty and wars generated by Capitalism”. To move “Forward” with militancy, internationalism and unity.
In these conditions, the WFTU is moving forward in an upward course.
We hold the wheel steady, making steps to meet the demands of our times, we defend the demands of the working class and the popular strata. we strengthen the class-oriented characteristics of our Organization, we build our Organizational pillars regionally and sectorally, we empower the internationalist, democratic and collective spirit of WFTU, supporting the unity and the coordination of the class-oriented trade union movement by promoting the action and the presence of the WFTU across the world.
International Action Days have been organized successfully in dozens of countries to demand the workers rights for the protection of the unemployed, for stable work, for food, water, books, medicine, housing for all.
The 70th Anniversary of the WFTU has been celebrated internationally honoring the contribution of WFTU to the national struggles against colonialism, apartheid, imperialism and for workers rights thoughout the years.
Trade Union training programs, seminars, workshops, trade union schools are been organized in numbers strengthening the militant capacity and class-oriented understanding of our trade unionists.
Progress in the coordination of young workers and women workers has been made.
Solidarity Actions with the struggles of the people and workers have been continuous.
From this and much more rich day-to-day action in all fields that concern the workers struggles, the ranks of WFTU are being filled with new members.
New dynamism has been given to the WFTU.
The role of AITUC in this new upward course, the support of AITUC to WFTU is crucial and vital. As WFTU expands and meets new goals, more efforts has to be made from all of us, to meet the expectations of the workers and of our times today.
I am in the happy position to announce to you, that the 17th World Trade Union Congress will be organized this year on 5-8 October 2016 in Durban of South Africa under the slogan:
“Forward: For the attainment of the contemporary needs of the working class against poverty and wars generated by capitalist barbarism”
Forward! With struggle, Internationalism, Class Unity!
Long live AITUC! Long live WFTU!
Long live the Indian working class!
Long live the International Working class!”