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Monday, February 29, 2016

CIRCULAR - 07/2016

15/1089-90, VASUNDHARA, VASUNDHARA (P.O.), Dt. GHAZIABAD (U.P), PIN-201012

Reference: AIA/Circular-07/2016                                                 Dated: 28th February  2016

To
Unit Secretaries,
Members & Spl. Invitees – NE &
Members of Women’s Committee

Dear Comrades,
OBSERVE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Universally, 8th March is observed as International Women’s Day.

International Women's Day honors working women and women’s struggle everywhere. The International Women's Day originated in honor of two all women strikes which took place in the U.S.
First all women strike was on March 8, 1857 when the garment workers in New York City marched and picketed, demanding improved working conditions, a ten hour day, and equal rights for women. Their ranks were broken up by the police. The second all women strike was fifty-one years later, (again) on March 8 in 1908, when the women in the needle trades in New York marched again, honouring the 1857 march, demanding the vote, and an end to sweatshops and child labor. The police were present on this occasion too.
The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February, 1909. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen in 1909, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was placed by German socialist Clara Zetkin which was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament. This Copenhagen initiative finally traversed to today’s International Women’s Day as given below.
           
  • 1911   As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women's rights to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
  • 1913-1914   International Women's Day also became a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
  • 1917   Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for "Bread and Peace" on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
  • 1975 During International Women's Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March.
  • 1995 The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic roadmap signed by 189 governments, focused on 12 critical areas of concern, and envisioned a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics, getting an education, having an income, and living in societies free from violence and discrimination.
  • 2014 The 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) – the annual gathering of States to address critical issues related to gender equality and women’s rights — focused on “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”. UN entities and accredited NGOs from around the world took stock of progress and remaining challenges towards meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs have played an important role in galvanizing attention on and resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The Observance of the International Women’s Day should be utilised to enhance the social and trade union consciousness of the women employees in our offices, all the while ensuring that the men colleagues are also part of it.

It would be quite appropriate to organise Debates, Seminar etc on the Day with some eminent personalities working on the social arena on women issues being invited. The whole idea should be to ensure women participation at grass root level as well as at leadership level, raising the level of consciousness to fight the social depravation that women are subjected to. The women employees should be equipped through this process to fight the patriarchal system and obscurantist ideologies that would like to confine the women in the four walls of kitchen.

MEETING WITH EMPOWERED COMMITTEE OF SECRETARIES

As you have learnt by this time, Standing Committee of JCM will have discussion, on the charter of demands submitted, with the Empowered Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary at 6.45 pm on 1st March 2016. The meeting initially convened for 26th February 2016 was rescheduled as per the request of the Staff Side as many of them who were out of station found it difficult to reach on time.

It would be wrong to expect too much from this single meeting. We should enter into negotiation with the government with the backing of the mobilisation and preparation for strike from 11th April 2016. Any let up by us in the preparation of the indefinite strike from 11 April 2016 would have serious repercussions. All the units are requested to prepare the rank and file for the serving of strike notice on 11th March 2016.

SERVE STRIKE NOTICE ON 11TH MARCH 2016

The NJCA has decided to serve the strike notice on 11th March 2016 to the respective Heads of Department with massive demonstration at New Delhi as well as at every station.

We may take special care to ensure that the discussions with the Govt do not dilute our enthusiasm and earnestness in the preparation for the indefinite strike and the serving of strike notice on 11th March 2016.

Every unit may please ensure that the strike notice is served to the respective PAG/DG/AG/PD/Director/Dy Director with massive meetings during lunch hour. HQr would serve strike notice to CAG at New Delhi. The format of strike notice will be posted in our blog and mailed too by 8th March 2016.

With greetings,
Yours fraternally

 

 Sd/-
  
(M.S.Raja)

Secretary General