AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur calls for mass mobilisation to defend workers’ rights

All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) general secretary Amarjeet Kaur on Sunday called for a sustained movement to safeguard the rights of workers and other toiling sections, alleging that the policies of the BJP-led dispensation at the Centre were undermining their interests.

Addressing a public meeting at Circus Grounds in Karimnagar on the inaugural day of the three-day 4th State conference of the AITUC, Ms. Kaur said workers, farmers, and youth were facing several challenges, particularly in areas of employment, education and livelihood.

She said the recent student agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi reflected growing concerns among the youth over the lack of quality public education and employment opportunities. Ms. Kaur alleged that the BJP-led dispensation was weakening labour laws and favouring a select group of corporate houses at the expense of workers’ interests.

She called for mass mobilization and sustained struggles to defend the hard-won rights of the working class and safeguard the interests of farmers, women, youth and other sections, besides protecting constitutional values and the country’s secular fabric.

She said the three-day State conference would deliberate on issues confronting the working class and evolve strategies for collective action to protect the rights of workers and other toiling masses. Earlier, workers, including daily-wage labourers and farm workers, took out a rally in the town under the aegis of the AITUC to mark the commencement of the conference.

CPI State secretary and Kothagudem MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao and others spoke.