Within weeks of making all Central Govt. employees contribute compulsorily to the PM Cares fund, which is going to remain unaudited, the Central Govt. has brought out a circular freezing DA up to July 2021 for employees and pensioners of Central Govt. Done in the garb of fighting the pandemic, this is a naked assault on the right won by these workers and amounts to affecting a wage freeze by stealth. IFTU National Committee condemns the move and demands its immediate withdrawal.

The central govt. employees in many sectors are in the front lines of the Govt machinery working during the pandemic. Central Govt hospitals are working as are all sections of central services. They are keeping the govt machinery alive. This step is part of the series of attacks of the Central Govt. against the working class in the name of the pandemic. From trying to impose Codes through ordinances, to trying to meddle with the Factory Act to its irrational lockdown resulting in misery to the huge migrant workforce, its failure to ensure both wage payments and food to workers in lockdown; all combined are assaults on the working class. On the other hand, the Central Govt. is siphoning off the country’s resources on payouts to corporate friends and on its own projects like changing the central vista of New Delhi etc, which are irrelevant and also highly contested.

The Central move has immediately resulted in the Uttar Pradesh Govt. announcing similar wage freeze for its employees. Other state govts are bound to follow suit. The move is bound to percolate to public sector. All private sectors where workers have won the right to DA will face similar attack.

IFTU demands immediate withdrawal of the circular.  We call on all central trade unions and the working class to unitedly fight back this assault on rights in the guise of ‘fighting’ the pandemic. This Central Govt. is guilty of allowing the virus to enter the country and spread unhampered for weeks in order to keep up with its imperialist friends and to facilitate the rich. Now the very same Govt. is trying to force anti worker steps under cover of the pandemic, as conventional forms of struggle have had to be suspended. Denounce the Govt. attack. Let us unitedly fight back.

Pradeep                                               Aparna

Gen Secretary                                      President

National Committee IFTU