CITU says no to ‘nokkukooli’, proposes code of conduct for leaders, members

Kottayam: The 16th state conference of the CITU, held here, has proposed a code of conduct for its leaders and members. The code is being enforced considering widespread allegations over the anarchy caused by the behaviour of union leaders, ‘nokku kooli’ and exorbitant wages.

The code was presented on Monday, the concluding day of the conference, by outgoing general secretary Elamaram Kareem while replying to the discussions.

Highlights of code
As per the code, workers have been advised against demanding excessive charges, seeking wages without doing any work and collecting wages on the days of a strike.

The code asks trade union leaders to shun an official attitude.
The leaders have also been directed not to become ‘visiting professors’, attending union meetings irregularly. The leaders should inculcate class consciousness among the members, says the code.

The document also urges leaders and members to speak in a new language to the youth, who should be educated about politics and trade unions.

As per the code, CITU should not explore funding options from other sources to conduct conferences of workers. The trade union should raise a second and third level of leadership, it says.
Yet another directive says that workers should be trained in first aid.

Elamaram Kareem defends LDF govt
In his speech, Kareem rejected the allegations of the delegates that the decisions of the second LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan had created the conditions for the formation of the UDF Government under V D Satheesan. “The criticism by delegates was due to their ignorance. The LDF government always protected the interests of the workers,” he said.

Kareem defended K N Balagopal, V Sivankutty, P Rajeev and K B Ganesh Kumar, who were ministers in the second Pinarayi ministry, and also said that the discussions criticising the LDF government’s Finance Department and KSFE had lost their way.

UDF following Centre’s policies: Pinarayi
Meanwhile, inaugurating the valedictory function of the conference, Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the UDF Government in Keralam was implementing the anti-people policies of the Centre.

“The Central government is denying all the rights of the workers by implementing a new labour code,” he said.

Pinarayi also accused the Centre of maintaining contempt against democracy and negating the voting rights of people.

“Many of the decisions of the UDF government in the state, which is following the same Central policies, have already been questioned. The state government is trying to create an artificial power shortage in order to purchase electricity at an excessive price from outside. The SARAL and Maritime Bills introduced by UDF government will take away all the checks and controls,” he alleged.