Pricol workers held a meeting on 13 March 13 to celebrate the commencement of the 10th year of their struggle for workers’ rights and dignity. The whole area around the venue was decorated with red flags which announced that the efforts of the State, the industrial lobby in Coimbatore and the management to crush the Pricol workers’ movement can never succeed. The programme commenced with a spirited performance of folk music and dance by the Kovai Cultural Team.
Comrade Mallika, one amongst the 29 workers who were slapped with false cases and acquitted on 3 December, hoisted the red flag. The workers then paid homage to those who laid their lives for the cause of workers’ rights and transformation of society. Comrade Saminathan, General Secretary of the Kovai Maavatta Pricol Workers Otrumai Sangam, presided over the meeting. Advocates K.M. Ramesh, Lakshmananarayanan and Bharathi who fought Pricol workers’ cases at various stages were honoured by Comrades Gurusami, Krishnamurthy and Janakiraman, leaders of Pricol workers’ movement.
Com. Dipankar released AICCTU’s Working Class Charter for the 2016 Elections and AICCTU state office bearers Comrades S. Jawahar, N.K. Natarajan, A.S. Kumar, T. Sankarapandian and Bhuvaneswari received the copies. Comrade Dipankar said that the Pricol workers’ struggle began as a workers’ struggle, developed into a struggle of their families and then as a struggle of the working class as a whole. He came down heavily on the BJP government at the Center and Sanghi forces for their concerted attempts to push their corporate, communal and casteist agenda. He referred to the various electoral fronts that are emerging in Tamil Nadu on the eve of elections and said these ruling class political parties can form many fronts but the actual front is the battlefront which fights for the rights of workers’ and people.
Comrade S. Kumarasami said that Pricol workers are in jail as they fought for the rights of the workers, they are in the same jail where the freedom fighter and working class leader V.O. Chidambaram was lodged for fighting for workers. Comrade Dipankar introduced the candidates of two constituencies in Coimbatore. Comrade P. Natarajan, area committee secretary of the Party and President of KMPTOS is contesting the assembly elections from Mettupalayam constituency and Comrade Velmurugan, former councillor in Coimbatore Corporation in Goundampalayam constituency. The meeting concluded with militant slogans of the workers who vowed to do all that they can to bring their comrades in jail back. Earlier, Comrade Dipankar inaugurated a library opened in the memory of Comrade TKS Janarthanan.
