Volume 3, No. 6, June 2002

The contradiction between labour and capital, being a fundamental contradiction in the contemporary imperialist world order, has given rise to innumerable workers struggles the world over. With the contradiction growing sharper by the day, there has been a spurt in international workers struggles in the new millennium. The unjust and oppressive policies of globalization imposed by the world’s rich countries, their multinational corporations and their financial institutions like World Bank and IMF have made poorer countries debt ridden and economically bankrupt. This has been facilitated by the politically bankrupt governments ruling the latter countries and the comprador capitalists who have acted like the proverbial stooges before the neo-imperialist forces of globalisation. India is a golden goose for these forces and the Indian political leaders are only too willing to kill the golden goose to please their imperialist masters.

On April 16 this year, workers and employees of public sector units, banks, insurance companies and collieries across the country were paralysed when lakhs of workers struck work to oppose the attempt to change labour laws, introduce privatization and anti-labour polices of the NDA government. The ruling classes and the media acknowledged it as the largest countrywide strike while trade union activists billed it among the biggest industrial actions in India’s trade union movement. An estimated 10 million public sector workers struck work bringing to a complete halt the country’s entire banking operations and severely disrupting rail and air traffic. Loading and unloading operations also ground to a halt in most major ports as over 25,000 port workers also joined in the strike. Even the reactionary unions, like the BMS were forced to join the strike while in Mumbai, the BKS (affiliated to the Shiv Sena) too had to give token support.

The Industry associations such as FICCI, ASSOCHAM, CII and others could only watch in disbelief to see the strength and purpose behind the united working class. Since they and their faithful media representatives had dismissed unions and the trade union movement as ‘increasingly irrelevant’ a decade ago. They openly expressed their ‘concern’ that the strike could not have come at a more inopportune time since the government’s ability to deliver on key reforms was being brought to question.

Simultaneous with the imposition of the economic liberalization regime in 1991 by the Narasimharao-Manmohan Singh combine came the campaign for ‘reforms’ in labour laws. Globalisation policies were introduced following the diktats of the World Bank , IMF and WTO. The consistent propaganda from the industrialists lobby since then and mouthed faithfully by the political leaders in power, has been that the policies of liberalization and privatization would bring about economic growth, and for the full realization of this growth, there is a need to ‘free’ labour laws as well. Their principal demands were for the introduction of an ‘exit policy’ to allow unconditional right to industrialists to ‘hire and fire’, for allowing the use of contract labour in all establishments and all jobs and for restricting the right to unionize.

The last decade saw persistent attacks on the workers, through means such as the rampant and forceful use of VRS schemes in both private and public sectors, retrenchments, closures and lockouts. There was a virtual ban on new recruitment in public sector enterprises like the railways. Despite the falling number of workers in the organised sector, the Indian working class through united and forceful state level bandhs and actions ensured the Centre could not effect the labour law changes. For the first time, major attempts were made by organized sector workers throughout the country to join hands with contract workers while organizing these actions.

At the end of a decade, successive governments showed their bankruptcy by placing the country’s wealth and resources at the disposal of MNCs and Indian capitalists. After an initial spurt on the economic growth front till ’94-’95 due to the pumping in of foreign investor funds, there has been a continuous decline, with economic growth comparable to the pre-liberalization days. Of all the sectors, the worst affected has been the industrial sector which has registered a severe decline at the end of the decade, due to the virtual smashing of the manufacturing and small scale sectors. Unemployment has reached an all-time high. The proponents of globalisation have the gall to claim that labour law reforms will result in employment generation!

True to the comprador nature of the Indian bourgeoisie and ruling classes, instead of reversing its disastrous policies, the government announced the launching of second generation economic reforms in 2001. The highlight of the 2001-2002 annual budget was the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s declaration that labour laws would be amended. The three industrial laws targeted were 1) Industrial Disputes Act,

2) Contract Labour Act and 3) The Factories Act. The government could not muster sufficient muscle to bulldoze these amendments through. Chinks in the ruling BJP’s armour were exposed when the saffron unions such as BMS and BKS were forced to join the state-level and country-wide protests against the proposed amendments.

It was during the post 1947 period that new welfare legislations were introduced by the Congress government. They were a result of intense workers struggles and of the participation of workers in the anti-colonial struggles. They included the Factories Act, 1948, the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Employees State Insurance Act 1948, the Dock Workers Act 1949, the Plantation Labour Act 1951, the Provident Fund Act 1952, the Mines Act, 1952. Over a period of time it became clear to the workers that none of these welfare laws were ever implemented. There was a consistent campaign since decades to subvert labour laws, which proves that this was not a post-globalisation phenomenon.

There also was ebb in worker’s struggles after the high tide witnessed during the anti-colonial struggles. This was largely due to the betrayal by the communist party leadership to enter into election politics soon after 1950. This led them to give up militant struggles and workers were utilized merely as vote banks for parliamentary gains. Thus an already divided working class was left without a leadership committed to the class interests of the workers. This period also saw the formation of trade unions by the reactionary ruling class parties and the growth of trade union bureaucracies, which ensured that workers became their captive members, rather than active and thinking members. This was a primary reason for the gradual erosion of workers rights. A culmination of this erosion was witnessed during the Emergency period, when trade union activity was banned and many leaders thrown in jail. It was during this period in 1976 that the Contract Labour Act was enacted which legitimized the use of contract labour.

Even during the brief Janata regime from 1977, there were major onslaughts on working class rights. On 30th August 1978, the then union Labour Minister, Ravindra Verma (who heads the second labour commission constituted by the Vajpayee government in 1998) introduced the ‘Industrial Relations Bill 1978’. Through this bill, many important amendments were introduced in favour of three laws - namely Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Trade Union Act 1926 and Industrial Employment (standing order) Act 1946. Services were divided into two categories, essential and non-essential and restrictions were sought to be imposed on the right to strike in essential services. It was during this time that the other infamous bill, ‘Hospital and Educational Institutions Bill 1978’ was introduced. Termed as ‘black bills’, neither could be enacted as the Lok Sabha was dissolved.

When Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980 she was requested by the Employers Federation to bring back the emergency type conditions on the working class. Thus the next onslaught on the workers’ rights came in 1982. In February, the Industrial Dispute (Amendment) Bill 1982 was introduced in Lok Sabha. Two months later the ‘Trade Union Amendment Bill 1982’ was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in April 1982. Similarly the notorious ‘Maintenance of Essential Services Bill 1982 (E S M A) which sought to declare 12 services as essential and Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill 1982 were also introduced. These anti labour legislations were fiercely opposed under the banner of ‘National Campaign Committee’ and on July 8,1982 a massive demonstration was organized in front of the parliament, As a result, the government had to retreat and the two bills could not be enacted.

In 1988, the Congress (I) government again introduced the two bills named as ‘Trade Union (Amendment) Bill 1988’ and ‘Industrial Dispute (Amendment) Bill 1988’. They were based on the pro industrialists recommendations of the Sarat Mehta Committee. Massive mass movements were organized throughout the country against these two bills culminating in huge demonstration on July 27, 1988 before the parliament. Once again, the government was forced to beat a retreat.

In 1994, the then labour minister P A Sangma introduced the Trade Union Amendment Bill 1994 in the Rajya Sabha. This bill for the first time sought to make the membership of 10% of the workers in industries mandatory for registration of trade unions. The bill however could not be enacted.

After the BJP government came to power, it constituted the Second Labour Commission in 1998 to make recommendations for labour law amendments within one year. Ravindra Verma, the Janata Party M.P. responsible for the 1978 Industrial Relations Bill was chosen to head it. Due to stiff challenges put up by workers, the Commission has not been able to make any headway and the government has been forced to keep on extending its tenure till date. The government had also constituted a 12-member task force on employment under the planning commission member M M Ahluwalia. The interim report of this task force also recommended changes in Indian labour laws to deal with rising unemployment.

Meanwhile, the government has gone ahead with various drastic measures such as allowing foreign direct investment into core sectors like telecom and insurance (despite prolonged and stiff opposition from the employees), disinvestment of public sector enterprises, starting with Modern Foods and Balco, the transformation of 4 SEPZs to free trade zones which are exempt from all labour laws, the setting up of the Rakesh Mohan Committee which has made detailed recommendations for the dismantling of and privatization of the Indian Railways, the dismantling of the SEBs and so on. Yet, this was not enough for the profit-thirsty MNCs. Having tasted blood, now they were thirsting for more.

On February 5 this year, the union cabinet announced a number of policy changes that would affect the Indian economy and industrial relations. They were 1) privatization of VSNL, IBPL, and four hotels owned by ITDC; 2) a proposed massive downsizing of central government staff by announcing a VRS scheme for surplus staff; 3) further liberalization of the foodgrain trade and dilution of prize control in the case of a number of commodities like sugar and pharmaceuticals and 4) a sharp hike in excise duties. Four days later, the railways minister Nitish Kumar was prompt to follow suit by announcing that he would implement the Rakesh Mohan committee recommendations and privatise operations in loss making railway lines.

At the end of February the government announced that an amendment bill to the Industrial Disputes Act would be presented in this year’s budget session. It was scheduled to be presented on April 16 when the national trade unions proposed an all India strike. In preparation for this the trade union joint front in Maharashtra called for a Long March on March 14. Almost 40,000 workers from Mumbai marched for over three hours to reach the city center. This, inspite of the tension of the Ayodhya issue the following day. Slogans against communalism dominated the march The government was however unable to table the amendments because of the contradictions within ruling party alliance on the one hand and the government’s complete loss of face and credibility over the murderous pogroms in Gujarat. Inspite of this public sector workers and employees went ahead with the strike. In some states like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh a state wide bandh. was also simultaneously called. It is significant that during the bandh railway workers too unitedly struck work. It is after almost three decades that railway workers have undertaken such widespread strike action.

The latest amendment being sought is that Chapter V B of the Act will not cover establishments with less than 1000 workers. The Chapter stipulates that in establishments employing 100 or more workers, government permission was necessary prior to lay-offs, lock-outs and closures. This effectively will remove more than 90 % of industrial establishments from the purview of this law as there are hardly a 1000-odd establishments left that employ 1000 or more workers. This will ensure that the exit policy, which is freely in practice for over 90% of the working class in this country, which is unorganized, will become applicable to 90% of the organized workforce as well. It needs to be remembered that a major beneficiary of the amendment will be the government itself as an estimated 80% of government-run public sector units are bound by section VB of the ID Act provisions. To remove the section will give the government a free hand to implement its disinvestment plans for PSUs.

Meanwhile the downsizing of central government staff is being threatened as part of implementation of the Expenditure Reforms Committee headed by Geetha Krishnan former finance secretary. The Committee has recommended the abolition of nearly 50,000 jobs in nearly 17 ministries and departments of the central government. The employees targeted have been those found in the ‘surplus pool’ declared in the ongoing reorganisation or closure of government departments. The employees are to be offered a VRS package and those who are declared surplus would be given a one-year period to accept the scheme or else they would be retrenched.

The amendments proposed in the the other labour laws, which are very much part of the ‘charter of demands’ of industrialists to the government is, among others, 1)that the Contract Labour Act should be amended so that the clause for abolition of the contract system should be removed and the contract system should be allowed in all but the core sectors; 2)Trade Union Act should be amended so that the right to form unions is restricted and outside leadership not allowed; 3) abolition of Sick Industries Company Act (S I C A) and bureau of Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR) among others.

Today the battlelines are drawn not only over BJP’s Hindutva and Ramjanmabhoomi agenda. With a lumpen vigilante force having been readied by the fascist Sangh parivar as seen in Gujarat, to attack all those opposed to its agenda, and with draconian laws like POTA in place, the stage is being set to take the battle into the industrial arena as well. The unions of the Hindutva parties like BMS and BKS are today opposing the labour law changes in order to win over the majority of workers to their ranks. This was exposed at the recent Shiv Sena party meet where Uddav Thakerey announced that the Sena would implement the temple issue AND oppose labour law changes. The BMS too has shown a similar façade when it called Yashwant Sinha a stooge of the MNCs.

INTUC was the only union which true to its traditional role, opposed the April 16 strike. Some Congress leaders are making some noises to oppose the amendments, but its opposition is also suspect, as a state like Maharashtra with Congress rule has announced that if the centre does not amend the labour laws its government would. As for the left and other unions, their bureaucratic methods of functioning and attachment to parliamentary politics, and the exigencies of rule in states like West Bengal will ensure that the road ahead will lead to the path of compromise. Already they have shown their reluctance to take the struggle ahead. Inspite of the success of the militant three day coal workers’ strike at the all India level in December 01 they have failed to give a call for intensification of the struggle. The resounding success of the public sector strike and the bandh on April 16 in some states has also proved that the workers are prepared for longer struggles, but the established revisionist and reactionary leadership is not. In this particular strike the establisment unions of the AITUC, CITU, BMS, etc vehemently opposed involving the private sector and decided to restrict it to the Public Sector alone. In spite of the build up and widespread expectation that an all-India bandh call would be given the Central leadership restricted it. The people were ready, the rank-end-file were ready, only the leadership were not.

The only road ahead for the working class is uncompromising militant struggles. It is clear that workers are growing in militancy and self-confidence and only this can ensure the workers do not face defeat. The challenge before revolutionaries is to give this rising force a revolutionary direction.

Meanwhile there are reports of numerous militant workers struggles the world over - from capitalist countries, to a repressive anti-worker regime like China. On March 23 a million workers marched to Rome and Italy witnessed a nationwide strike - there too the issue was to oppose the change in labour laws being contemplated by the Italian government. This strike too was on the same day as in India - April 16. It is estimated that 10 million working people participated in this strike ! While in China, workers resorted to spontaneous strikes to demand the release of their union leaders who had been imprisoned by the dictatorial regime in that country.

Thus it is not just in India, but in different parts of the world, particularly in the rich countries of Europe and the U.S , that workers movements are gaining momentum. And Karl Marx’s clarion call at the end of the 19th century, ‘Workers of the world unite, you have nothing lose but your chains’ is indeed showing the way for the ushering in of a new dawn for the working masses everywhere. Of a new world order, where the reign of MNCs and the imperialist countries will be brought to an end, and where the working masses will be the architects of their liberation and a new world order.

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