The 2nd Conference of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) Railways employees Union was held at Chittaranjan on 18 December. The Conference resolved to build up the resistance against privatization of CLW and against 100% FDI in railways. The Conference hall was named after Com. Swapan Mukherjee, the departed AICCTU leader, and the railway township was named Vinod Mishra Nagar.
The Conference started with hoisting of Red Flag by the outgoing secretary Pradip Banerjee and paying floral tributes to martyrs by prominent TU leaders and office bearers of the Union. This was followed by the inaugural session of the conference, which began with songs of struggle rendered by Com. Nitish Roy of Paschim Bango Gana Sanskriti Parishad. Com. DP Bakshi Vice President of AICCTU inaugurated the conference. In his inaugural speech, he explained elaborately the present situation in the Railway Trade Union movement along with demonetization disaster unleashed on the working people, particularly the unorganized workers and stressed on the broader unity of the working class. The TU should not be treated as “Give and Take bargaining centre”, but to be considered as a worker’s primary organization of his own to get educated to fight for its rights and dignity. In the open session prominent TU leaders of Chittaranjan addressed the conference. Surinder Singh, AICCTU leader from Bengal, and N.N. Banerjee, GS, SERTSU stressed on organizing contract workers in the Railways and to strengthen Save CLW movement.
The conference elected a 29 member executive committee with Kalipada Mondal as President and Pradip Banerjee as working president. Subhash Chatterjee was elected as General Secretary.
