Nationwide trade union strike hits normal life

Published : Jan 08, 2019 17:36 IST

In Bengaluru, trucks parked away as their drivers participated in the nationwide strike on January 8.

In Bengaluru, trucks parked away as their drivers participated in the nationwide strike on January 8.

An estimated 20 crore formal and informal workers struck work in the banking, telecom, transport, insurance, postal, coal, steel, automobile and other sectors across the country today in response to a call for a two-day strike by 10 central trade unions, independent federations and associations stepping up their demands with the National Democratic Alliance government.

The strike, which comes close on the heels of successive farmer and peasant agitations, was against what they called labour reforms and the “anti-worker policies” of the government. The decision for a two-day strike on January 8 and 9, 2019, was taken at a national convention held in September 2018 by all the trade unions. The strike has been supported by farmer organisations such as the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the Bhumi Adhikaar Andolan. Ashok Dhawale, president of the AIKS, called for better coordination between the working class and the peasantry.

In a joint statement, the 10 central trade unions—Indian National Trade Union Congress, All India Trade Union Congress, Centre for Indian Trade Unions, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Trade Union Coordination Centre, All India United Trade Union Centre, Self-Employed Women’s Association, Labour Progressive Federation, All India Central Council of Trade Unions and United Trade Union Congress—stated that the unions and associations of agricultural workers, plantation workers, scheme workers, construction workers, beedi workers, loaders, vendors and hawkers were supporting the strike apart from the organised sector federations and associations.

It is pertinent to note that the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the trade union affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has consciously stayed away from all the joint programmes and protest calls of the rest of the trade unions ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA came to power in 2014. Interestingly, during the regime of the United progressive Alliance (UPA), the BMS was very much a part of the joint protests which were led mainly by the Left-led unions.

The two-day nationwide protest was basically a culmination of a series of joint actions beginning with countrywide general strikes in 2015 and 2016, followed by a three-day “Mahapadav” (massive sit in) in 2017 and a massive protest by almost 80-lakh scheme-based workers in January 2018. A Group of Ministers headed by the Union Finance Minister was constituted to look into the 12-point charter of demands in 2015, but there was little headway. Neither did the government at any point engage with the 10 trade unions on any of the points in the charter.

“The strike has been successful contrary to what the government might say. Total strike and a bandh-like situation has been observed in Assam, Manipur, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura and Bihar. It was also successful in several districts in Karnataka, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Haryana. Road transport workers have supported the call almost everywhere,” said A.R. Sindhu, CITU office-bearer.

Trade Union Act Amendment Bill introduced

The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal refused to support the strike call given by the Left-led unions. In Parliament, Labour Minister Santosh Singh Gangwar was dismissive of the strike and said six trade unions, including the BMS and a faction of the INTUC, had not participated in it. He also introduced a Bill to amend the Trade Union Act 1926.

Trade unions have been riled over recent attempts to amend the Trade Union Act of 1926 as well as codify 44 labour laws into four laws without any tripartite consultation. On January 8, taking the opposition benches by surprise, Gangwar introduced the Bill, invoking strong reactions from members of the Left parties and the Congress. M.B. Rajesh, MP from Palakkad in Kerala, said the Bill did not accept the definition of a trade union as agreed unanimously by the trade unions and the government. It also did not confer mandatory recognition of unions at the enterprise level. Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, demanded that the Bill be sent to a standing committee where everyone could be consulted and criticised the government for surreptitiously introducing the Bill.

The amendments to the Trade Union Act, by inserting Section 10 A, empower the Central and State governments to recognise unions and their federations. This has been done ostensibly to ensure more transparency in tripartite discussions, an argument that the unions are not convinced about.

The strike invoked different reactions from State governments. While the West Bengal Chief Minister indicated that strong action would be taken against the strikers, the Delhi government’s move to impose the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) angered the trade unions. Opposition parties view the success of the Bharat Bandh in BJP-ruled States such as Haryana and Maharashtra, coupled with the sustained farmer unrest, as a growing sign of disaffection with the BJP-ruled government in the Centre.

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