PROCEEDINGS OF THE AIRF WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MAY, 2013 IN T.N. BAJPAI MEMORIAL HALL, NEW DELHI

Transcription

1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AIRF WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MAY, 2013 IN T.N. BAJPAI MEMORIAL HALL, NEW DELHI The Working Committee of All India Railwaymen s Federation(AIRF) started at 11:00 hrs. on 25 May, 2013 in T.N. Bajpai Memorial Hall, 12 Chelmsford Road, New Delhi, as per pre-notified scheduled, with Com. Umraomal Purohit, President AIRF, in the Chair. The names of the Working Committee Members, who attended the meeting, are annexed as Annexure - `A. At the outset, President AIRF, Com. Umraomal Purohit, offered warm welcome to the Office Bearers of AIRF and all the Working Committee Members present in meeting. He further congratulated them for the success of respective unions in the secret ballot elections held from April, 2013 throughout the Indian Railways for recognition of the unions and expressed his satisfaction that the All India Railwaymen s Federation has again emerged as a strong organization of the Railwaymen securing highest mandate during these elections. Condolence Resolution Before taking-up the agenda of the meeting, a Condolence Resolution was moved by the General Secretary to pay homage to the undernoted eminent personalities who left for their heavenly abode during the intervening period Com. Dinesh Bajpayee, Branch Secretary, Roza Branch, Moradabad Division of NRMU (NR) Shri Bhagwan Das, Sr. Permanent Way Supervisor, Gulabganj, Bhopal Division of WCR) Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President Mast Ram Kapoor, Veteran Socialist Leader Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Britain Ankit Chaturvedi, S/o Shri Basant Chaturvedi, ZS/AIRF/NERMU and DS/IZN/NERMU

2 Wife of Branch President, Hapur Branch, NRMU, Shri Shiva Kumar Tyagi Shakuntala Devi, an Indian prodigy mental calculator, popularly known as "Human Computer" Shamshad Begum, an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry Com. A.K. Pandey, CPWI, Sihora Road, Jabalpur(WCR) and Com. Hukum Singh, Trolleyman, Sihora Road, Jabalpur(WCR), both were run over by train while on duty. Victims of the stampedes, bomb blasts and natural calamities, etc. etc. Two minutes silence was observed to mourn the sad demise and to pray the god for eternal peace of the departed soul in heaven. Thereafter, agenda of the Working Committee was take-up for discussion. First of all, minutes of the last Working Committee Meeting, held at Visakhapatnam from 18 th to 20 th December, 2012, were confirmed unanimously, where-after, the President invited the General Secretary for making his report. General Secretary On being called upon, the General Secretary AIRF, Com. Shiva Gopal Mishra, made a detailed report of the intervening period. He, initially, congratulated all the comrades for their dedication and hard work done during secret ballot elections, and informed the house that, last time we had been single unions in 4 zonal railways, but this time we have emerged as single union in 5 zones. He, however, regretted that one of our affiliates, i.e. DPRMU could not succeed in these elections despite their best efforts. Shri Mishra expressed his concern that, although, AIRF and its affiliated unions have worked dayand-night to serve the railwaymen after secret ballot elections of 2007 and have a number of remarkable achievements at our credit, nevertheless, our unions could not secure desired percentage of votes during the elections, held from April, 2013, though, the AIRF has once again emerged as a strong federation in these elections, securing highest percentage of votes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to deeply analyze the reasons/factors responsible for the same and serious introspection is quite necessary, he added. He further stated that, there might be some lapses on our part, due to which, the desired percentage of votes could not be secured, and it also appears that the railwaymen by-and-large had madeup their mind that, there should be two recognized unions in the Railways due to one reason or the other. He also talked about the various achievements made by the AIRF during this period as also the organizational activities undertaken by the AIRF and its affiliated unions.

3 He specifically congratulated those unions which have emerged as Single Union in their respective zones as also those secured No.1 position in the elections, and at the same time, he encouraged those unions which were on 2 nd position or the one which could not succeed during the recent elections, to do even hard work for bringing more and more railwaymen under the banner of their respective unions. He mentioned that we must accept our lapses and should take necessary remedial measures in future for a better tomorrow. He said that, in these elections the rival unions have spent crores of rupees and have distributed sarees, watches, purses, liquor and even hard cash as also food to the voters for weeks together. He also mentioned that they have gone to the lowest ebb by using false propaganda against our union officials and they have not spared Shri Purohit Ji by issuing poster on NPS. He then proposed that a 3-day workshop of the AIRF Office Bearers should be held to analyze the entire situation and the results of secret ballot elections in different zonal railways as also to chalk out future strategy. He further mentioned that we have to consider the resolution passed by the 88 th Annual Conference of the AIRF and decide the date of strike ballot on our long pending 38-point Charter of Demands, including setting up of Seventh Central Pay Commission and scrapping of New Pension Scheme. Accounts The Statement of Income and Expenditure, circulated by the Treasurer AIRF, Com. J.R. Bhosale, for the period from to and to , was adopted unanimously by the House. Thereafter, a meaningful debate took place, wherein S/Shri Rakhal Das Gupta(Working President/AIRF), S.K. Brahma(VP/AIRF), A.M. D Cruz, AGS/AIRF), Basant Chaturvedi (ZS/AIRF/ NERMU), Harbhajan Singh Sidhu(AGS/AIRF), Ch. Gandhi (AGS/AIRF), S.K. Bose(WCM/AIRF), S.K. Pandey(WCM/AIRF), Sisir Chandra Mazumder (WCM/AIRF), J.R. Bhosale(Treasurer/AIRF), R.D. Yadav(VP/AIRF), Mukesh Mathur(VP/AIRF), Mukesh Galav, AGS/ AIRF), Ch. Sankara Rao (AGS/ AIRF) and Pijush Chakraborty(WCM/AIRF) took part. All the speakers talked in detail about the situation they had to face in their respective zonal railways during the elections, as also the unfair and illegal measures adopted by the rival unions to get success in these elections. The important problems mentioned and the issues raised by the different speakers are as under:- The rival unions contesting elections, particularly NFIR affiliates, had grossly used malpractices during these elections, which include all kinds of bribery, i.e. distribution of cash, sarees, clocks, supply of wine as also food etc. to the voters to secure their votes. The political party to which NFIR is affiliated, i.e. Congress, also extended all kinds of support to NFIR and its affiliated unions during these elections.

4 The NFIR affiliated unions tried their level best to defame the leadership of AIRF and its affiliated unions on false and fabricated allegations against them. In most of the zonal railways, the general verdict of the railwaymen has been for two recognized unions. False publicity and propaganda, use of huge amount on posters, hoardings, stickers, pamphlets were the measures adopted by the NFIR affiliated unions. The NFIR affiliated unions totally violated the Code of Conduct as also provisions of the modalities without any check by the Secret Ballot Committee or Railway Administration. The AIRF has a distinct character of struggle, sacrifices, transparency and its dedication towards the overall upliftment and betterment of the railwaymen, perhaps the same could not be properly transformed to the voters, as a result of which, we could not fetch the desired results. Certain long pending issues are not being resolved despite observing several demonstrations, Protests Week etc., as such, direct precipitative action seems to be inevitable. AIRF and its affiliated unions should exhibit aggressiveness in resolving the genuine demands of the railwaymen. The 38-point Charter of Demands, as resolved in the 88 th Annual Conference of the AIRF, held from 18 th to 20 th December, 2012 at Visakhapatnam, needs to be pressed upon by taking conclusive decision in the matter. The NFIR affiliates also made massive use of Information Technology, i.e. their website, face book, SMSs etc. even for misguiding the railwaymen and defaming the leadership of AIRF and its affiliated unions. A totally false propaganda was made against the President AIRF, Com. Umraomal Purohit, that he had been a member of the Trust and has been instrumental in implementation of New Pension Scheme, which is totally baseless. The speakers broadly congratulated the General Secretaries and their teams, of those AIRF s affiliated unions, which have emerged as Single Union/Sole Bargaining Agent as a result of secret ballot elections, as also to those which have succeeded in becoming No.1 in their respective zones. There was almost general verdict that the AIRF should take immediate concrete steps to resolve the genuine long pending demands of the railwaymen, like implementation of recommendations of various important committees, including Safety Review Committee, Group `D Staff Promotion Committee, Committee on Package and Career Progression of Trackmen, Cadre Restructuring Committee, merger of P. Way Supervisors with the J.E., grievances of the Running Staff, merger of Technician II with Technician I in GP Rs.2800, allotment of higher Grade Pay of Rs.4800 in place of GP Rs.4600 to Sr. Supervisors, upgradation of minimum 15% apex Group `C posts to Group `B, removal of anomalies in the MACP Scheme, etc. etc.

5 It was also suggested that the contract labour should be brought into the mainstream and we should register them as our members to safeguard their interests and rights, then and then only the policy of the Government of India pursuing outsourcing, contractualisation etc. can be checked effectively. There was unanimous opinion to focus on Mission Speaking on this occasion, Shri J.R. Bhosale, General Secretary, WREU, congratulated the leadership of AIRF and its affiliates for their victory in secret ballot elections. He also thanked the General Secretary AIRF for providing regular information about the major achievements etc. during the course of elections as also there was prompt reply of the clarifications sought by the affiliated unions from the AIRF Office. He further added that the New Pension Scheme is a major setback on which the NFIR and its affiliated unions have tried their level best to misguide the young chunk of the railwaymen who are covered by this scheme, as such there is urgent need to take appropriate action on this issue. He also opined that the LARSGESS needs to be further liberalized, so that it yields fruitful results in appointment of the wards of the railwaymen under this scheme. Shri Pijush Chakraborty, Jt. General Secretary NFRMU, suggested that the AIRF should not take part in any joint programme wherein NFIR is a participant and we should further try to get NFIR de-affiliated from the ITF. Clarifying the situation created by the NFIR with false propaganda to defame Com. Umraomal Purohit as Trustee of PFRDA, Shri Purohit explained in detail about the background under which he agreed to become a Trustee. He added that it was with the unanimous consent of the then General Secretary AIRF as also General Secretary NFIR, Shri M. Raghaviah, that he accepted the proposal of Shri D. Swaroop, Chairman, PFRDA to join as a member, and in his completed tenure he totally safeguarded the interests of the Central Government Employees so much so that the fund was invested in only government bodies and not in any private sector unit. Shri Purohit also informed the house that he opposed all the anti-labour proposals of the Government of India while acting as member of the said Trust. Becoming quite emotional, Com. Purohit mooted a proposal that he has served the railwaymen for quite a longer period of time and now he wishes to quit his position. The General Secretary AIRF, Shri Shiva Gopal Mishra, immediately intervened and requested Shri Purohit that till such time the leaders of the AIRF and the Working Committee wish to continue him as the President of AIRF, he should not think like that and should continue showering his blessings, based on his vast experience of not only national, but also international trade union movement. Shri Rakhal Das Gupta, Working President AIRF, speaking on this occasion, was of the opinion that we should file a defamation suit against the office-bearers of NFIR for defaming Com. Purohit and other leaders of the AIRF and its affiliates on false allegations during the course of elections. Replying to the debate, the General Secretary, clarified certain issues and proposed to organize a three days workshop during the month of June itself to critically discuss the various aspects of the secret ballot elections, wherein all the Standing Committee Members of AIRF, i.e. Office Bearers of AIRF and President and General Secretaries of the affiliated unions, should take part. He was also of the opinion that we should take stock of the overall situation in the said workshop to decide future course of action on the resolution adopted in the 88 th Annual Conference of the AIRF, held at Visakhapatnam in the changed scenario. Shri Mishra also informed the house that there is a likelihood that secret ballot elections for

6 recognition of the unions in the Production Units may be conducted by the Railway Board very shortly, for which our affiliated unions have to make all sorts of preparations well in time so that these unions can secure maximum number of votes. He also suggested to hold a separate workshop of all the Production Units shortly. After detailed deliberations, the following unanimous decisions were taken:- (i) (ii) A three-day workshop shall be held in Mumbai during the last week of June 2013, wherein all the Office Bearers of the AIRF and President and General Secretaries of AIRF s affiliated unions shall take part. The entire situation of post-secret ballot elections shall be discussed threadbare along with critical analysis of the results of these elections and future strategy shall be chalked out therein. It was also decided to adopt resolution to congratulate the railwaymen for their massive support and valuable vote in favour of AIRF and its affiliated unions. The meeting was concluded after passing vote of thanks to the Chair. No.AIRF/89 Dated: May 29, 2013 Forwarded to General Secretaries, all affiliated unions and Members of the AIRF Working Committee. DA/As above.

7 RESOLUTION CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE RAILWAYMEN The Working Committee Meeting of the All India Railwaymen s Federation(AIRF), held at New Delhi on th May, 2013, congratulates all the Railwaymen for their massive participation in the elections conducted for the recognition of the unions and federations through the process of secret ballot elections during the period from 25 th to 27 th April, 2013 throughout the Indian Railways. The Working Committee also congratulates all the Railwaymen for exercising their mandate in favour of the unions affiliated to All India Railwaymen s Federation in a massive way. Acknowledging the massive mandate, All India Railwaymen s Federation salutes all the Railwaymen and assures one and all again that the All India Railwaymen s Federation will leave no stone unturned to fulfill the wishes and aspirations of the Railwaymen through sustained struggle, rejuvenating the fighting character of the All India Railwaymen s Federation. The Working Committee dedicates the victory to the Martyrs of the 1960, 1968 and 1974 historic struggles of the Railwaymen.

8 Annexure `A NAMES OF AIRF WORKING COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED AIRF WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MAY, 2013 IN T.N. BAJPAI MEMORIAL HALL, 12 CHELMSFORD ROAD, NEW DELHI AND SIGNED IN THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER 1. Shri Umraomal Purohit/President/AIRF 2. Shiva Gopal Mishra/General Secretary/AIRF 3. Rakhal Das Gupta/Working President/AIRF 4. J.R. Bhosale/Treasurer/AIRF 5. M.N. Bajpyee/Vice President/AIRF 6. K.L. Gupta/Asstt. General Secretary/AIRF 7. A.M. D Cruz/Asstt. General Secretary/AIRF 8. N. Kanniah/Asstt. General Secretary/AIRF 9. Y.G. Joshi/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(CR) 10. S.K. Bose/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(CR) 11. V.K. Yadav/WCM/NCRMU 12. R.P. Bhatt/WCM/AIRF/NERMU 13. Irshad Khan/WCM/AIRF/WCREU 14. P.T.S. Raja/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(CR) 15. Paritosh Paul/WCM/AIRF/NFRMU 16. V.P.R. Pillai/Vice President/AIRF 17. Ch. Sankara Rao/AGS/AIRF 18. Ch. Gandhi/Asstt. General Secretary/AIRF 19. Manoj Behra/ZS/AIRF/SECRMU 20. Salil Lawrence/AGS/AIRF 21. Nokhelal G. Kanojiya/WCM/AIRF/SECRMU 22. Rajesh Dongre/WCM/AIRF/SECRMU 23. Subhendu Mukherjee/WCM/AIRF/ERMU 24. B.C. Dutta/WCM/AIRF/ERMU 25. M. Nageswara Rao/WCM/AIRF/SCRMU 26. P.S. Charan/WCM/AIRF/SCRMU 27. K. Sivakumar/WCM/AIRF/SCRMU 28. K. Kaladhar/WCM/AIRF/SCRMU 29. Satvir Singh/WCM/AIRF/RDSOKS 30. A. Xavier/WCM/AIRF/RDSOKS 31. Mani Mohan Dey/WCM/AIRF/ERMU 32. Baboo Singh/WCM/AIRF/NWREU 33. P. Mohan Das/ZS/AIRF/ICFLU 34. T. Manoharan/WCM//AIRF/ICFLU 35. P. Anbalagan/WCM/AIRF/ICFLU 36. Rajbir Sharma/WCM/AIRF/RCFMU 37. Niranjan Singh/WCM/AIRF/RCFMU 38. Rajinder Singh/ZS/AIRF/RCFMU 39. S.K. Rana/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 40. V.S. Kansana/WCM/AIRF/NCRMU 41. R.N. Yadav/WCM/AIRF/NCRMU 42. Rakesh Gupta/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 43. R.P. Singh/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 44. Y.K. Sharma/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 45. A.K. Yadav/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 46. S.N. Singh/ZS/AIRF/CLWRMU 47. Surendra Kumar/WCMAIRF/CLWRMU 48. D.K. Dwivedi/WCMAIRF/CLWRMU 49. Sanjay Kapoor/WCM/AIRF/WREU 50. S.A. Gupte/WCM/AIRF/WREU 51. R.K. Chattopadhyaya/WCM/AIRF/WREU 52. Anil Vyas/WCM/AIRF/NWREU 53. Harbhajan Singh Sidhu/AGS/AIRF 54. R.K. Pandey/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 55. S.K. Tyagi/WCM/AIRF/NRMU(NR) 56. Shyam Babu Srivastav/WCM/AIRF/WREU 57. P. Yugandhar/ZS/AIRF/SCRMU 58. Mukesh Galav/Asstt. General Secretary/AIRF 59. G.B. Singh/WCM/AIRF/NERMU 60. Bhupendra Bhatnagar/WCM/AIRF/NWREU 61. Arun Gupta/WCM/AIRF/NWREU 62. P.K. Patsahani/WCM/AIRF/ECoRSU 63. P. Nayak/WCM/AIRF/ECoRSU 64. N. Satpathy/ZS/AIRF/ECoRSU 65. S.N. Mohammad/WCM/AIRF/SWRMU 66. I. Joseph/WCM/AIRF/SWRMU 67. W.A. Yadwad/ZS/AIRF/SWRMU 68. K.V. Raghvendra, DS/SBC/ SWRMU 69. Samir Chakraborty/WCM/AIRF/NFRMU 70. Pijush Chakraborty/WCM/AIRF/NFRMU 71. Dilip Chakraborty/WCM/AIRF/NFRMU 72. Sisir Chandra Mazumder/ZS/AIRF/MTPRMU 73. Yaseen Ahmed/WCM/AIRF/SCRMU 74. Tapan Kumar Kundu/WCM/AIRF/MTPRMU 75. Subhajit Pal/WCM/AIRF/MTPRMU 76. Mrs. D. Shaleel/WCM/AIRF/ECoRSU 77. N. S. Hiwale/WCM/AIRF/WREU

9 9