Kochi, Tuesday 22 September 2009: All India Congress Committee (AICC) president and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate national conference of the party’s trade union wing INTUC to be held from October 9 to 12 here.

Addressing Union’s Kerala Committee meeting here in connection with the upcoming conference, INTUC national president G Sanjeeva Reddy today said, “the conference will help in strengthening the Congress in the state and mobilising the working class under the banner of INTUC.” He said the Congress would return to power in the state with the help of the working class.

”Though INTUC is backed by the Congress, it takes decisions devoid of political compulsions taking into account the general welfare of the workers and labourers in the country, unlike other trade unions,” he noted.

Reddy alleged that numerous industrial units were being closed down in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, pushing the workers into dire straits.

Speaking on the occasion, Opposition leader Oommen Chandy alleged that the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Government in the State was following anti-worker policies, which would not augur well for the working class in the state.

The four-day conference, to be officially inaugurated by Gandhi on October 10, would also feature working committee meeting, a women’s convention and an international seminar to deliberate on the economic slowdown in the global economy.

More than 5,000 delegates from across the country and other countries like the US, UK, Italy, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Japan would participate in the conference.