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| Saturday, 1 May 2004 |
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May Day - wither the worker? by Sqn. Ldr. J. T. Rex Fernando, SLAF (retd). Trade unionism in Sri Lanka indicate a rather tragic situation where our workers have shown a readiness to align themselves to political parties which means that they depend largely on the swing of the political pendulum to get what they want. There is total dependence on the party and also its fortune, which make them political animals without the strength to fight their battles on their own.n The sooner our work forces learn to fight their causes on their own the less dependent they would be on the politician to obtain their legitimate rights. How wise has the trend among local unions to latch on and associate themselves with various political parties in this country been? When their party is in power they are reluctant to "rock the boat" by asking for whatever they should get. This is what leads to industrial deadlocks, the whittling away of their resources and strengths, which are vital for success. When demands smack off political motivation they are as a rule treated more with cynicism than with sympathy. Have the unions lost more than what they have gained themselves? These are questions that the leadership must ask itself. In other words what is their standing and creditability? The day our workers learn to fight their battles on their own the less dependent they would be on the politicians to obtain their legitimate rights. Drastic change The UNP Government of those days openly identified themselves with these privileged and powerful sections thus steadily down-grading labour in the eyes of capital. This tendency reached its apogee in the 1980 general strike and the heavy fisted repression which greeted the striking workers. In keeping with these changed power relations, May Day too took a different complexion. Instead of bringing the worker into focus UNP May Day rallies at Galle Face Green catered to the vulgar sentiments of Colombo's lumpen elements. Cheap entertainment took the place of serious deliberations of the workers interests. Power politics took centre stage. The tendency among political parties to engage in polemics and vitriolic attacks against each other rather than ponder the condition of the worker, was greatly enhanced in those years. We are continuing to live with some of these loathsome legacies, the leftist parties and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna have managed to blunt some of these ill-effects of vulgarizing May Day. Recent budgets have tended to underscore the importance of the contribution of labour to the common weal. For instance, welfare schemes have been drawn up for expatriate workers. Medical schemes have been launched for the working population and financial benefits are being offered to expatriate workers. Form of celebrations However, one of the most significant benefits being enjoyed by workers of today is their right to strike this right has in the past been taken to extremes by JVP unions. However, now installed in power there will be inevitable constraints on the unions affiliated to the JVP to resorting to wild cat strikes. There was a time when it was not the Government that celebrated May Day, but the trade unions, mostly led by the leftist parties that when they invariably attached the capitalists - their masters and owners. In Sri Lanka trade union activities commenced as back as 1922 when the Ceylon Labour Union - the first association of workers as a trade union in Sri Lanka - was founded in that year under the leadership of A.E. Goonasinghe. It was this union that initiated the commemoration of May Day rallies and demonstrations. It has been the order of successive governments to celebrate May Day with mere pomp and pregnancy, but with no gain as they have all failed to keep their promises. When we consider the form and manner of the celebrations and the various slogans, speeches and platitudes that will be expressed at the various rallies and demonstrations one wonders how much of the significance of the workers rights and responsibilities will permeate the mind of those who will participate in the various May Day celebrations. Divisive political issues rather than the question of worker welfare are likely to dominate May Day speeches and tirades. This of course is a far cry from what May Day ought to be for, the traditional focus of May Day is the working class and its interest. Wither to the worker Trade unions came into existence in an atmosphere of hostility from employers and governments. With the passage of time, however it came to be tolerated due to necessity. With the strengthening of the trade unions movements toleration changed to partnership. This situation has since changed. Politicization of unionism, multiplicity of unions, disunity and decline of trade union power have all resulted in the workers loosing the initiative and bargaining power. It is an irony in a country with a history of over 100 years of trade unionism and with 95 per cent literacy, outsiders continue to manipulate the destinies of the workers. These self-appointed protagonists are either politicians of followers of some decadent ideology and use Trade Unions to maintain to climb to power to preserve the positions they already hold. While for over seven decades trade unions in the country have celebrated May Day, May Day does not have the dynamic importance it should have for the worker himself. It tends to be the occasion for slogan slinging rallies and processions with political emphasis. By this, in a sense the aspirations of the workers have over years being marginalised. May Day is essentially a workers day and strictly speaking, it should be celebrated as an occasion that signifies the emancipation and the beginning of a worker movement to secure its place in the sun. A little introspection on this all important day is not only appropriate but timely, particularly in the context of the present worker disillusionment in unions. May Day is no longer a workers day, it does not belong to the worker anymore. Politicians and political parties have taken over the May Day, workers are merely going behind political rallies and demonstrations exhibiting their disunity. While the May Day was earlier intended to show worker solidarity against exploitation and their willingness to fight their rights, it is today used by political parties to show their respective strengths. That the workers have lost their grip and are mere pawns in the hands of Political Parties is quite apparent in the manner in which May Day has been celebrated in recent years. The usurpation and invasion of the May Day by political parties had virtually driven away the real workers and genuine leaders from the May Day scene. Stock taking May Day is a time for stock taking, it has been the order of successive governments to celebrate May Day with mere pomp and pageantry. But with no significant gains to the workers. Can we boast of any significant victories for the working people of this country, given the bleak backdrop? ironically, the so-called trade unions which are most active in politics today, represent the middle class interest. Take the case of the government doctors, engineers, station masters, paramedics. While the working masses stand mutely by, it is the 'bourgeoisie' which is clamouring greedily for its rights, with no mention, of course of its responsibilities. All this is a reflection of current social dynamics. The middle classes are wielding disproportionate power and they are mobilizing more effectively than the working class. There is, of course, on and off, industrial unrest of the classical kind. But what has the working class per se achieved in contrast to the middle class based agitations, which are increasingly achieving their ends by holding the people to ransom. A case in point is the manner in which the Doctors extracted their recent demands. There is perhaps some truth in the assertion that once a Lankan worker achieves middle or lower class status through the process of upward social mobility, he sets about consolidating his gains rather than keeping the avenues open for the social and economic uplift of his erstwhile colleagues among the masses. Open economy Until the advent of the open economy in 1977, May Day celebrations in Sri Lanka managed to keep these vital issues in focus. This is attributable to the fact that until those times we possessed a fairly vibrant Left Movement in Sri Lanka. Under a relatively closed economy, the contribution of labour to the production process and the common weal won great recognition. Nineteen seventy seven changed all that. Stepped-up investor capital, foreign direct investment, trade liberalization, rapid industrialization and the like which came along with the economic liberalization package, titled the power balance between capital and labour, strongly in favour of the former. Labour rights and needs took second place to the interests of capital and the self aggrandizing tendencies of private enterprise. Globalization/Liberalization Today while globalization, liberalization of the economy and structural adjustment programmers are having their impact felt on the economy, the worker becomes a pawn of their greater interest. His rights are often ignored in order to attract foreign investment low wages are often used as the bait. We see this happening in the Free Trade Zone areas of Katunayake and Biyagama in the many garment factories and industrial foreign investment factories where the unskilled and semi skilled workers are often paid a pittance. The hire and fire system, the contractual system and outsourcing of labour have made the worker reluctant to express their dissatisfaction and in an economy where unemployment is an ever increasing frightening prospect few workers have the temerity to make demands. The workers in this scheme of globalization become the first victim of an economic policy of expansion and profit making. The development of the market economy with its emphasis on free trade, the economic themes of globalization and liberalization have in no way increased the quality of life of the worker in third world economies. This we see in situations the workers of our country face. The structural requirements of the World Bank and the IMF the liberalization and industrial concerns and the removal of many welfare measures and subsidies have made the worker not only totally dependent on his meagre earnings, but also has increased in him fears of redundancy and a golden handshake with no support systems to sustain him. In fact this has been said that globalization and liberalization have brought into the third world countries the concept that the rich have the freedom to get richer and the poor the freedom to get poorer. The elite develop a luxury lifestyle while the worker faced with the ever increasing cost living, which again is a result of the market economy, does not even have the basic facilities to live in marginal comfort. Labour rights During the past 50 years, despite the existence of advanced labour laws and professed adherence to fundamental rights, both the state and private sector have often violated labour rights with impunity, while some so called labour leaders have made workers pawns in a political game. A glaring example was the 1980 general strike. Despite the strong pledges afforded by the Alliance to the unions and the workers the Government has no alternative, but to do a tight rope walk - a balancing act between attracting foreign investment and ensuring labour rights. How this can be done is a moot point. Eclipse of worker interests Looking back, we could figure out with sufficient, justification that the major eclipse of worker interests began with the political resurgence of the UNP in 1977, that was the time the economy was liberated as never before and the "Robber Barons' given the greenlight to operate with impunity. |
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