The Hindu : National : Intellectuals support industrial strike

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Thursday, Apr 24, 2008
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Intellectuals support industrial strike

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Writers, intellectuals, artists and other cultural activists on Wednesday expressed solidarity with industrial workers going on a two-day strike here on Thursday and Friday in protest against abysmal living and working conditions. The strike is being led by the CITU. An appeal issued at a press conference by Jayati Ghosh, M. K. Raina, Moloyshree Hashmi and Rekha Avasthi, said they believed in the ideals of liberty and equality but in the era of globalisation, the gaps in the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities had only widened and the living and working conditions of the workers in the city were deteriorating each day. The vast majority of workers in the organised and unorganised sector were denied even government-notified minimum wages. Many basic rights, achieved by trade union struggles, were being eroded as a consequence of liberalisation-privatisation policies.

These include increase in working hours, employing temporary or contract workers instead of permanent employment, names not being recorded in muster rolls, flouting safety norms and no social security benefits.

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