New Delhi- Hundreds of workers from different sectors across Delhi-NCR, including Noida, Manesar, Okhla industrial areas, the security sector, sanitation workers, domestic workers and construction workers, participated in the Workers' Convention organized by the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) at Surjeet Bhawan, New Delhi, under the theme "Raise Wages, Stop Repression." Teachers, students, lawyers, intellectuals and democratic activists also joined the convention in solidarity with the ongoing workers' struggles in Noida, Manesar, Panipat, Surat and other industrial centres.

Workers who have faced arrests and repression shared their experiences. Vivek, a worker from Manesar who spent over one-and-a-half months in jail, described the inhuman working conditions prevailing in industrial units and the criminalization of workers for demanding basic rights. Rajkumar, another Manesar worker released on bail, spoke about long working hours, miserable wages and the impossibility of sustaining a family on monthly earnings of around Rs 10,000 amidst soaring prices of essential commodities, rent and healthcare.

Advocate Kawalpreet Kaur, who is defending jailed activists in Noida, highlighted how contractualization has become a tool to suppress workers' rights and prevent unionization. She condemned the criminalization of workers and activists while employers violating labour laws continue to enjoy impunity.

Addressing the convention, AICCTU General Secretary Rajiv Dimri said that the countrywide workers' strike against the anti-worker labour codes and the subsequent upsurge in industrial areas reflected a growing determination among workers to resist exploitation. He emphasized that the Indian working class would no longer tolerate modern-day forms of slavery and denial of basic rights.

Conducting the convention, AICCTU National Vice-President Sucheta De noted that the recent revision of minimum wages in Haryana came only after sustained workers' struggles. However, even the revised wage levels remain grossly inadequate. She reiterated AICCTU's demand for a minimum wage of at least Rs 42,000 per month, based on established norms for a dignified standard of living, and stressed that higher wages and freedom to unionize are non-negotiable demands of the working class.

The convention strongly condemned the repression unleashed on workers' movements across industrial regions. Participants pointed out that serious criminal charges, including "attempt to murder," have been imposed on workers merely for participating in struggles for their rights. Seventeen workers in Manesar were jailed under such charges; while twelve have now secured bail with the support of trade unions and legal intervention, several workers and activists continue to face prosecution and imprisonment.

The convention unanimously demanded a substantial increase in wages, an end to repression, withdrawal of all false cases against workers and activists, and the immediate release of all those jailed for participating in democratic workers' movements.