People's Democracy

SEPTEMBER 29 ALL INDIA GENERAL STRIKE

Strike Hard Against Liberalisation

Chittabrata Majumdar

THE moment a general strike is called, certain questions present themselves inevitably.

Voices are raised from certain quarters and the moot point posited is: a strike has been called, so what?  How would a strike call benefit and whom? 

Well, it is grudgingly acknowledged, the strike might be some use in Bengal, and may be in Kerala, Tripura, and partly Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.  That is all it is stated.  How is a strike of any general benefit, they ask pointedly?  The only outcome, they pose a reflexive query, is that daily wage earners lose out a day’s work….

This is nothing new: this shop-worn campaign of disinformation has been in the mill for the past several decades, commencing perhaps from the decade of the 1960s. The votaries of this campaign are the corporate media, the Congress, and the BJP, and its lackeys, and they have been droning out the tuneless dirge for years and years now.

‘KINDNESS OF THE UNION GOVERNMENT’

A new dimension to this perennial tone of irritable complaint has been added this year. It is pointed out with a fulmination of angst that the Delhiwallah government has been gracious and kind enough to acquiesce and acceded to so many ‘good things.’ 

It has, has it not, after all, agreed to pass the rural employment guarantee bill?  Come on, it is chidingly remonstrated, how can one expect it do a lot in such a short period?  Surely, an employment guarantee for the cities and towns is in the pipeline?

Special economic zones, too, so the kind-hearted union government has given out, will have full guarantee of TU rights.  A bill would be brought, and soon, for the unorganised sector workers.  What more do you want, is the general poser of the ruling classes to the working class and the TUs.

The union government, the Indian ruling classes and their running mates chortle in chorus, is doing so much and is it fair to disturb its poise by calling a strike just to prove a point?  Wait and watch, and then, if you are still dissatisfied, go for a strike if you still will…. 

Yet, the general strike is very much ‘on.’  What are the ‘reasons and why?’

First, and let us state this unhesitatingly, the central and main focus and issue of the sixteen-point demand charter is the vigorous attack organised against the working class, and the attack is concentrated in its ire against all protest movements of the working class, in particular.  Has the assault slackened even a bit, no, and the intensity and width as well as depth are increasing every day.

HIRE-AND-FIRE

When the trade unions state, and clearly, that the present labour laws should be revised in the interests of the working class and implemented, the prime minister himself would wax eloquent on liberalisation of the labour laws.  He speaks of making the labour market “flexible.”  This flexibility, we are in no doubt, is a euphemism for a ‘hire-and-fire’ principle.

The concept of ‘self-certification’ is brought in at this point and it is given out that the management would be able to certify, and without governmental supervision, that the labour laws are in operation, and that the minimum wages are paid.

Gurgaon is but an example of the state of affairs the working class and the mass of the people find themselves in.  The workers are waging a grim battle in many a cycle factory in Ludhiana.  Trade unions are not allowed to register themselves.  The registration of TUs is guaranteed by a central legislation; but the union and the state governments shift the onus on each other and delay matters indefinitely. The issue has been raised in the parliament and letters written to the prime minister too without any avail. 

The workers of the Ramdeo Ashram Ayurvedic Pharmaceuticals factory face a great plight.  Their right to trade union would not be recognised.  The Uttaranchal chief minister has been communicated with, he in turn has instructed the labour minister, and the latter the district magistrate — again, to little avail.  The management cite that the workers are actually ‘sevaks’ of the Ashram and do not need TU rights.  The general strike is against this kind of state of affairs.

These are but a handful of examples of how labour laws are trodden underfoot in the country now.  They say that the eight-hour workday is an idea that has long been made passé. With technology contributing to enhancement of production, it has become de rigueur now to envision a 12-hour day of work: and that too without an overtime being in place.

THREAT OF RETRENCHMENT

Unity of workers results in a whiplash of threat of retrenchment. A threat is floated in the air that factories will be closed down.  The right to strike has been put on the dock by the Indian ruling classes and their running mates.

We certainly welcome generation of employment through investment. However, we have to pause and think whether the purchasing power of the society is increased at the end of the day through fresh investments after sacrificing lakhs and lakhs of perennial jobs.

The union government has assured the trade unions that it will not disinvest BHEL. It continues to argue, however, in favour of privatisation and divestments all the time like a chant.  It argues in favour of selling cheaply national assets.

Airports Authority of India is under threat of divestment.  The union government has adopted an inflexible stand on divesting 74 per cent of the telecom sector.  They speak of ‘corporatisation’ of the defence sector, a step away from privatisation.

Thus, the union government has not moved away from liberalisation. Almost every step it takes is a continuation in this direction. 

Whenever the imperative of funding schemes such as rural employment guarantee is raised, the talk inevitably turns to mobilisation of resources. No effort is made to mobilise resources from the affluent, though.  The swing of the axe is destined to fall on the uncertain economic existence of the middle class, the lower middle class, and most of all, the poor.  The rally for mobilisation of resources is a façade, a smokescreen.

Yet, the total amount of income tax, sales tax, import duty and company tax falling due from the indigenous and foreign investors and from the rich exceeds one lakh crore rupees. No effort is to be seen on the part of the union government to go about recovering this money. 

Again, initiative is lacking in the task of recovering the huge amount of outstanding loan to the state-sector banks and the amount currently is in excess of Rs 1,25,000 crore.  The union government is eager to offer relief to the rich debtors by touting the loans as ‘bad debt,’ and then promptly writing them off. 

There is no will of the union government in the matter of recovering black money, which stands at in excess of Rs 60,000 crore or more.

The poser of the union government about lack of funds is raised as a routine bogey as soon as there is talk of implementing projects that benefit the poor.  Alternatively, there is the inevitable talk of disinvesting shares of the state sector enterprises.  Do tell us why?

Prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked up, yet once again. The CPI(M) had placed before the union government a set of specific proposals, the implementation of which would have done away with the necessity of the hike. They would not listen. Our response is to go in for a general strike to register the people’s protest.

STRUGGLE AGAINST LIBERALISATION

The central issue of the movement is the struggle against liberalisation. We demand that the labour laws must be implemented. The working class is under severe assault today. The attack, we know, is waged against the working class because the working class possesses the power to strike and to strike back. The policy of liberalisation is out to weaken the organised force of the working class. It desires fervently to make the TUs irrelevant.

The query is raised from some quarters if there is not other alternate form of protest than strike action.  Would they care to explain the alternatives that they find available without pontificating generally?  The struggle is on.  It is a struggle for changing of policies. The policy of the union government must be hit and hit hard.  That is why we are going in for a massive and nationwide strike on September 29.

A question is floated about the objective benefit of the TUs in organising the strike. We believe that our objective gain concerns how many people we could involve in the struggle to change these policies. It is true that only one strike action would not be able to register victory against liberalisation. We have to organise many more strike actions in the days to come.

Our independence was not won in a day.  It came through many struggles, and through many sacrifices. The freedom struggle was organised with the aim to ensure that we might be able to draft our development programmes ourselves and to build the country by ourselves.  The aim of liberalisation and of international capital is to concentrate the world’s resources in the hands of a small number of investors.

The battle against liberalisation is in no way less than the battle for independence.  The important thing for us is how many people we are able to involve in this battle.  The more the people we are able to involve, the greater will be the ability to strike and to hit back. The harder we strike, the weaker the policy of liberalisation will become.