Down with the government machinery which is supressing the just struggle!
Statement of Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC), 4 March 2026
It is very important for all of us to draw lessons from experiences of these struggles. All such experiences time and again teach us to give up the illusions about the government machinery and the state! Give up the illusion that the state is neutral! Under the rule of the capitalist class the state is the organ of that class, with the sole objective of defending its interests. Along with our day to day struggles, we need to consciously think as to how to put an end to this man-eating system for ever. How to replace it with a system whose only goal will be taking care of the interests of the current and future generations of working people? We must intensify our struggle with this objective in mind.
In the month of February, thousands of contract workers’ struggles in various parts of the country shook many establishments / enterprises. The struggles included strikes at two Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) refineries located at Barauni in Bihar and Panipat in Haryana, IOCL LPG Bottling Plant located at Karuppur, Salem, Tamil Nadu and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) owned steel plant in Hazira near Surat. (brief details of the agitations and their demands are given in Box 1 and Box 2 below). As soon as they started their struggle, the government machinery moved in with super-fast efficiency to crush their struggle. However, workers have declared their resolve to continue their just struggles.
Contract workers are one of the most vulnerable section of workers, primarily for two reasons. Firstly, they do not have any job security and secondly most of them are migrant workers from far-away places. Such migrant workers are always very vulnerable and in the eyes of capitalist class, they are disposable: welcome when silent, expendable when assertive. In spite of these conditions, these contract workers are fighting militantly and hence deserve fullest active support from the entire working class of our country. They are proving a fact that fear is always individual, but courage is collective, and when we stand together, fear truly vanishes.
These workers, just like crores of contract workers across the country, are raising very legitimate demands for the past many years. Many petitions and meetings and demonstrations are held across the country every day. However, it is only when these workers struck work that the managements of these enterprises came forward for discussion,which they were avoiding since long. This reveals a fundamental truth: as long as production continues, our problems are sidelined; as soon as production stops, they become the central issue. If we stop working, then their exploitative machinery comes to a standstill! That is why the capitalist class is so scared of strikes and does everything in its power to prevent us from striking from work. That is why it is extremely crucial to build a strong unity of permanent and contract workers, so that the capitalist class cannot use one section when the other strikes work. Whenever in past such unity was exhibited the capitalist owners of the enterprises had to give in.
All these struggles happened in enterprises like IOCL which is one of the biggest enterprises of the Government of India and of some of the biggest capitalist groups such as Arcellor Mittal, Nippon Steel of Japan and Larsen & Toubro. Especially when such big capitalist group owned companies are involved, the police and government agencies move in swiftly. They move in swiftly—not to resolve the dispute, not to compel negotiation, and not to enforce labour laws, but to restore “order”. And under the rule of capitalist class “order” means uninterrupted production, secured assets, and subdued workers. Lives, dignity, and rights of workers do not matter!For capitalist corporations, the government machinery behaves like a partner; for workers, it behaves like an oppressive enforcer.This is exactly what has happened in case of all these heroic struggles.
It is very important for all of us to draw lessons from experiences of such struggles. All such experiences time and again teach us to give up the illusions about the government machinery and the state! Give up the illusion that the state is neutral! Under the rule of the capitalist class the state is the organ of that class, with the sole objective of defending its interests.
Our struggles for better wages, for better and safe working conditions, for organizing in unions of our choice are no doubt important struggles. But the capitalist class, driven by its pursuit for maximum profits will never ever fulfil our demands. At best, if our struggles are very strong, they will go on the backfoot temporarily and throw some crumbs, while all the time waiting to pounce and take back more than they had yielded. Along with our day to day struggles, we need to consciously think as to how to put an end to this man-eating system for ever. How to replace it with a system whose only goal will be taking care of the interests of the current and future generations of working people? We must intensify our struggle with this objective in mind.
Kamgar Ekta Committee once again salutes these contract workers of IOCL, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India and Larsen & Toubro and calls upon all the working people to actively support these struggles.
Box 1
At Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Barauni Refinery located in Bihar, thousands of contract workers began their struggle with a one day strike on 2nd February. On 8th February when the management filed a case against a workers’ leader and suspended and detained him, workers responded with a work boycott on 9th February, demanding the release and reinstatement of their leader. To intensify the agitation, on 15th February, thousands of workers organized a Workers’ Unity Conference in which they declared their determined resolve to continue their struggle.
On February 23rd, more than 30 thousand contract workers employed at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) refinery in Panipat, Haryana, went on a one day strike. Within a few hours, the police resorted to lathi charge to forcibly end the peaceful and legitimate workers’ protest, injuring a large number of workers. The Central Industrial Security Force resorted to firing in the air to scare the workers. The workers are determined to carry on with their struggle. Many organizations have come forward and are holding workers’ unity meetings in support of their struggle.
On 2nd March contract workers of the IOC LPG Bottling Plant located at Karuppur, Salem, Tamil Nadu struck work for half-a-day to protest against the arbitrary and vindictive termination of 4 of their comrades by a newly appointed contractor. In a bid to crush this struggle, the IOCL management is resorting to victimization of active workers and arbitrary dismissals by labour contractors. However, undeterred by this, workers are continuing their struggle.
On Thursday 26th February morning, thousands of contract workers, employed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), started their protest at the Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) plant in Hazira near Surat. They were brutally lathi charged and more than 70 tear gas shells were launched within 30 minutes by the police force which swiftly arrived at the site. It is reported that 46 workers have been arrested and FIR with charges like attempted murder have been slapped on them.
Box 2
Following were the demands raised by them:
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Reduction of duty hours to 8-hour.
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Overtime payment should be at double the rate
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Timely payment of wages between the 1st and 7th of every month
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Wages should be paid according to the company’s board rate as per the classification of city where the establishment is located
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Employer should ensure monthly deposit of Provident fund (PF) failing which the principal employer should foot the bill
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Proper arrangements for workers for resting, clean potable drinking water and clean toilets
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Ensuring safe working conditions and proper provision of emergency medical aid in case of injuries or accidents
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In the event of any accident or mishap during work, the company should take full responsibility and provide appropriate compensation
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All national holidays should be extended to workers!
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Monthly duty should be fixed at maximum 26 working days!
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The FIRs filed against the workers must be cancelled and all those workers who were removed from service by the contractors must be immediately taken back!