As lakhs of workers of Mumbai participated in All India General strike, a militant rally was organised in Azad maidan on the occassion. Industrial workers, bank employees, insurance employees, college teachers, domestic workers, anganwadi workers, telecom, defence and electricity workers, participated in this rally, which was addressed by the leaders of the working class movement of the city.

In his opening address, AD Golandaz, leader of the Trade Unions Joint Action Committee, pointed out that this is the 13th All India General Strike which has taken place ever since the policies of Privatisation. Liberalisation and Globalisation were launched in 1991.  He denounced the government for not heeding the wishes of the people and also decried that within 48 hours of winning the trust motion, the Finance Minister brazenly declared that they will now go full-steam ahead on the privatization of banking, and insurance and for the amendment of labour laws.

The representative of Kamgar Ekta Chalwal pointed out that workers need to draw the appropriate lessons from their experience with the UPA government which had been supported by the Left parties or four years. There is no such thing as a middle road between capitalism and socialism. No working class organization, no communist party, should ever again support a capitalist government. During the last 61 years, whichever government has ruled has served only the big capitalists, and we should work to replace this with a worker peasant government. When we the workers and peasants will establish our rule we will convert India into a truly golden land. We have to develop the alternate program around which we will unite all the toiling people and challenge the rule of the bourgeoisie. We cannot rely on the current talk shop parliamentary democracy but must evolve a new type of direct democracy which will reflect the will of the people.

Com Matpathi, General Secretary of BSNL Employees Union announced that 30,000 BSNL Employees in Maharashtra were on strike and attacked the government’s moves to privatize BSNL. Dada Samant of the Kamgar Aghadi said we should vigorously oppose the changes in labour laws and use the coming election also for this purpose. The Central Government was collecting Rs 100,000 crores as Service Tax from the 30 crores of unorganized workers in India but this was not being put back to their benefit.

Com Nagarajan, General Secretary of All India Bank Officers Association, pointed out that the public sector banks today collectively have deposits of Rs. 61 lakh crores in the form of savings of the Indian people. Why is the government keen on handing this huge sum of money over to the private sector? He asserted that the working class would oppose this.

Comrade Sharad Nanal, General Secretary (Western Zone) of the All India Insurance Employees Association, denounced the introduction of the  Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, an attempt to hand over the pension funds to private companies like Reliance, HSBC and ICICI. He also denounced the moves to disinvest LIC as nothing but an attempt to hand over its assets worth Rs. 16.5 lakh crores to private companies. He also attacked the government’s aim to increase the foreign direct investment in private insurance companies from the current 26.5 to 49%.

Com Vivek Monteiro, General Secretary, CITU, Maharashtra, called for a political movement to oppose the governments’ anti-people policies. Com Sukumar Damle, General Secretary of AITUC, Maharashtra, said that we will continue the fight till the anti-people policies are changed. Com Franklin, President of Hindustan Lever Employees Union hailed the struggle of the workers.

Com Panigrahi, General Secretary of Indian Naval Dockyard Employees Union, said that 2 lakh defence employees are participating in the strike. He warned the government that the working class would defeat it in the next elections.

Many other leaders representing domestic workers, hawkers, anganwadi workers and teachers also spoke at the meeting. The rally ended with the workers discussing what steps needed to be taken in the future.