The Uttar Pradesh Safai Mazdoor Ekta Manch (affiliated with AICCTU) organized its first district conference in Mathura. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation from various sections of sanitation workers across the district, including drivers engaged in cleaning operations as well as contract and permanent employees belonging to diverse categories.
The conference deliberated the issues faced by workers in the district and its surrounding areas, and constituted a 15-member District Committee. Comrade Pritam Singh was elected as President, while Comrade Uttam Chand Sahjana was chosen as General Secretary.
The conference was presided over by a three-member Presidium comprising Comrade Naseer Shah (Advocate), Comrade Pritam Chand, and Comrade V.M. Mehta. District Convener Uttam Chand Sahjana presented a report detailing the activities undertaken over the past two years.
Inaugurating the conference, Comrade Abhishek, National Secretary of AICCTU, asserted that the Sangh-BJP government places its faith in repression and violence rather than dialogue. On one hand, workers are being divided along religious and sectarian lines while being stripped of all their rights; on the other, capitalists like Adani and Ambani have been granted free rein to engage in unbridled plunder. The guarantee for the success of our struggles for workers' rights and dignity lies in our ability to cast aside all forms of discrimination and strengthen the unity of the working class.
AICCTU's Uttar Pradesh President Comrade Vijay Vidrohi, addressed the delegates and stated that the Uttar Pradesh government remains indifferent to the issues concerning workers. He asserted that the repression of workers in Noida, coupled with misleading statements issued by the Chief Minister and the Labour Minister, clearly demonstrates that the Yogi government's allegiance lies with corporate profiteers. The BJP governments currently in power at both the Centre and the State are implementing anti-labor Labor Codes as expeditiously as possible. Once these Labor Code laws are fully implemented, a 12-hour workday will receive legal sanction. Workers will be trapped in a perpetual cycle of Fixed Term Employment, and compelled to work solely on a contractual basis for their entire careers. Through these Labor Codes, the Modi-Yogi government seeks to dismantle the workers' fundamental right to form unions and to strike. By attacking the Constitution framework and by eliminating provisions such as the standard 8-hour workday, the BJP government has made its true intentions abundantly clear. The Uttar Pradesh Safai Mazdoor Ekta Manch must remain ever-vigilant and prepared to safeguard the interests of the working class.
Union’s State General Secretary Comrade Santosh and Allahabad District President Balram Patel extended their best wishes at the conference and called for the expansion and strengthening of the organization. The conference was attended by hundreds of worker representatives.
