Support the just struggle of the Workers of Century Mills against Retrenchment!

Call of Communist Ghadar Party of India, Mumbai, to the working class of Mumbai, August 30, 2006

The Communist Ghadar Party of India hails the militant protest action of the workers of Century Textile Mills, led by their Union, to oppose the management's move to mass retrench workers and close the mill. On August 20th over 5000 workers and their families staged a protest in front of the Mill Gates at Worli. For three hours, from 2. 30 pm to 5. 30 pm they blocked the busy road in front of the mill and refused to move despite intense pressure from the police. The workers for the first time had mobilized their entire families and women and children participated militantly in the rasta roko. The Communist Ghadar Party of India calls upon the workers and working people of Mumbai to resolutely support the just struggle of the Century mill workers and their families.

In January of this year, the Century Mill owners had announced a "Voluntary Retirement Scheme" (VRS). According to this scheme the Mill owners want to reduce the number of workers from the current 7000 to 2000. Seeing that very few workers were accepting the VRS scheme , on August 10, the management sent unsigned letters to the homes and even the native places of the workers. In the letter it was claimed that the Company was not in a position to run the Century Mills profitably and indicated that the mill would be closed down.

Management’s Claims

CTIL is currently under the control of the BK Birla Group. But the mill is being taken over by Kumaramangalam Birla and will be part of the Aditya Birla Group of Companies. The 2005-06 Annual Report of Century Textiles and Industries noted "As of now, it appears that operating a composite textile mill in Mumbai may not be viable in the long run due to technical limitations of the machinery, high labour costs, octroi taxes, municipal taxes, water charges and cost of electricity, although we are making our best efforts to continue the operations even on a reduced scale." In the same report it is declared that “A new textile mill is being setup as a Greenfield project under a separate Division of the Company having capacity to manufacture about 30 million metres of fabrics per annum at Jhagadia, district Bharuch in the State of Gujarat including 30MW Captive thermal power plant at a total capital expenditure of about Rs. 600 (Six Hundred) crore”. Recently the Company announced that "It has been decided to bring down gradually the production of fabrics by reducing the number of looms in operation to about 500 from 1200 at present as also reducing the requisite number of spindles and ancillary machineries needed to continue the operations viably''.

What are the real Facts?

Century Mills is a profit making company. Exports form 80% of the turnover of Century Mills. The company sells its products in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Over the last 20 years CTIL has spent more than Rs 300 crores on modernization and upgradation of technology. CTIL has made plans to increase sales in the Indian market. To cater to domestic demand, it has test-launched its range `Cottons by Century' in Mumbai. This will be launched nationwide this year. In addition CTIL has drawn up plans for a major retail push that will see the setting up of about 50 retail outlets for both textiles and garments this year and about 25 more next year. This will include the company's own branded theme stores Mangal Pradhan.

On the other hand the management claims that the high labour cost is making the running of the mill unviable. This is a blatant lie. After serving the company for 15 years the average Gross monthly salary of a worker is around Rs.7,000 and after all deductions, the take home pay is a paltry sum. The management sees even this as too high and is excited at the prospect of being able to hire workers on contract basis for a total salary of Rs. 3,000 in Gujarat! Shame on the House of Birlas, one of India’s biggest industrial houses, for the miserable condition of its mill workers!

Why do the Owners want to close down Century Mills?

Century Mills in Mumbai is spread over 44 acres of land in Worli in Mumbai. This is a gold mine. The 5 acre Kohinoor Mills was purchased by the Manohar Joshi/Raj Thackeray Combine for Rs 421 crores. The 17 acre Mumbai Mills was purchased by DLF and Akruti Nirman Developers for Rs 702 crores. 44 acres of land can fetch at a minimum anywhere between Rs1600 c rores to Rs 3400 crores. Locking up so much capital in the form of land in a prime location in Mumbai is considered unprofitable investment. With the Supreme Court and the main political parties in Maharashtra going on overdrive to enable the sale of mill lands for real estate development, all mill owners in Mumbai who are sitting on a gold mine in terms of land are rushing to close shop and reap profits from real estate speculation. Century is merely following suit.

The Birlas want to kill several birds with one stone. On the one hand the entire expenses of Rs 600 crores for setting up the new Unit in Gujarat with its own captive power plant can be defrayed from the sale of the Worli Unit. At the same time, they will have capital to invest in more profitable undertakings.

What Should the Workers Do?

All over Mumbai, as well as in the other metropolitan cities, a big clash is developing between the working class and working people on one side, and the big bourgeoisie on the other. The clash is over livelihood, over housing. The big bourgeoisie wants to transform Mumbai into Shanghai, to make maximum profits, and in the process, if necessary they are running and will run bulldozers over the bodies of workers and their families.

In Mumbai, not only are the millions of slum dwellers under attack, but also the entire population in the working class districts of Central and South Central Mumbai. The bourgeoisie is seriously planning to throw the mass of the people of this area out by force or by buying them out, so that it can redevelop this area and make money in the process of transforming this city into world class financial center. It is preparing to change the laws to ensure this and it is putting the entire state machinery to work for realising this as rapidly as possible.

In these conditions, the struggle of the Century Mill workers is not just a struggle for their own livelihood and to save one more Mill from demolition. It is an integral part of the struggle of all the workers and working people and small shopkeepers of Mumbai in defence of their livelihood and homes which are under onslaught. Let us all - the people of Mumbai, who toil and sweat for a living, UNITE to fight the closures and demolitions. Let us unite in one mighty struggle to block the path that the bourgeoisie is pursuing. The workers of Century Mills and other mills, who have a history of fighting the capitalist onslaught must play a leading role in this struggle.

Long live the Struggle of the Century Mill Workers!
Workers Unity Zindabad!