Report received from Com. Lalitmohan Misra, General Secretary, Steel Workers Federation of India (CITU)
Workers of the Vizag Steel Plant have been fighting unitedly since 27th January, 2021 when 100% strategic disinvestment was announced by the cabinet of Modi ji. The entire working class and the populace of Andhra Pradesh were shocked over the deeply ill-conceived and mad decision of the BJP govt. to hand over the steel plant stock and barrel to one of its most preferred corporate darling, South Korean MNC, POSCO. The VUPPC (Vishaka Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee) is continuing the struggle for more than 1200 days at a stretch. The call to the workers to defy and resist has become people’s resistance to save Visakha Ukku.
Due to our consistent struggle management finally enhanced the capacity by restarting Blast furnace No. 3 which was not in operation since 22/7/2022. Workers irrespective of union affiliations and a section of management wanted a business partnership with Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL). It was proposed that SAIL would receive 90, 000 T cast billet every month in exchange of raw materials like coking coal, iron ore pellets and iron ore. We have been demanding merging of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL) with SAIL to overcome all odds. But Jindal got the contract due to anti-worker corporate-friendly policy of the central govt. These are all parts of backdoor privatization.
In the meantime, an indefinite strike took place in the Adani Gangavaram Port limited (AGPL), Visakhapatnam from 10th April to 16th May ,2024 by a group of fisherman workers working in GPL. A settlement was arrived between fishermen group workers and the AGPL management on 16th May 2024 in front of the Commissioner of Police, Visakhapatnam. The AGPL management agreed to pay Rs. 27 lakhs, including all their final benefits as one time settlement to the fisherman workers. The fisherman workers working in AGPL will be stopped from their duties w.e.f. 17th May 2024. The payment will be made to the workers within 2 months. The aim of the AGPL management was to remove fishermen workers from the port and they have succeeded.
The AGPL management tried to stop the functioning of GP Employees Union of CITU. They have suspended our three leaders and transferred other three. The management of AGPL has demanded that all the leaders should write to the Joint Commissioners of Labour stating that they have resigned from primary membership of the CITU. Anti-worker clauses of Labour codes are being implemented to have a trade union free industry. We have to fight unitedly against such criminal attempts of the AGPL management.
Due to the indefinite strike in Gangavaram port, production in Vizag Steel Plant had been paralyzed. Coking coal is an important raw material to prepare coke in coke oven department which is life line of Vizag Steel plant. When 3.2 lakh tonnes coking coal was lying in the godowns of the AGPL and ships, even 100 T was not available for production at Vizag Steel Plant. Only a wall is there in between the AGPL and Vizag Steel to sabotage Vizag Steel Plant.
The Government of India has miserably failed to take action against the AGPL in supply of coking coal to Vizag. The management of AGPL refused to run the port in spite of having requisite manpower. This is a clear case of sabotage as production of Vizag totally depends on the raw materials of AGPL. As a result, the monthly target could not be reached and the Vizag Steel management surprisingly did not pay the April salary of the workers till 20th of May. CITU was in continuous struggle against non-payment and held demonstration, gherao in each and every department. The management was compelled to release the pay (50%) to every worker on 21st and on 22nd the rest 50% was paid.
Till date new scale and whatever agreed in NJCS are not implemented in RINL. Only a portion of bonus was sanctioned last year. The Vizag Steel management has unilaterally increased the Electricity rate to Rs 8 per unit. Deprivation and discrimination are common in every issue. In spite of all sorts of barricade workers and common people are fighting relentlessly against privatisation, disinvestment and to protect the rights and benefits of workers of RINL.