Comment
Independent Trade Unions
Labour cannot expect much from the established central trade unions, invariably affiliated to different political parties, mainstream or otherwise, as most of them cultivate a kind of labour aristocracy in the Indian context, targeting the organised sector workers and employees, earning reasonable wages even during this era of stagflation. ‘Maruti Suzuki’ is a case in point. Faced with a difficult situation labour in most medium-sized and small enterprises has long been looking for alternative trade union organising outside the ambit of traditional trade union bargaining counter modelled after British Labour Party controlled Trade Union Congress. As maoists have no idea as to how to organise labour in open trade unions, the reformists of all hues have a field day because they don’t face any effective political challenge from any quarters. Then maoists are not really interested in ‘revisionist’ exercises like attending workers’ issues and problems at the shop-floor level as also at the industry-level—a boring job.
Of late some independent trade union initiatives, allegedly with naxalite leaning, are hitting the head lines, sometimes for wrong reasons, particularly in the state of Tamil Nadu.
With more than 21,000 factories, Tamil Nadu has the largest number of operational factories in India. Top global companies like Nokia, Dell, BMW, Daimler and Hyundai have a base in Tamil Nadu. However, industrialists are uneasy that ‘Naxalite fringe militant trade unions’ have established a foothold in key industrial belts. New labour groups with radical strategies have entered the plants of numerous small and medium companies. In the garb of institutions seeking wider support for women’s empowerment, culture and youth activities a large number of militant groups who don’t believe in gun-all strategy of the maoists, have established themselves in key industrial belts of Hosur, Sriperum-budur, Gummidipoondi, Cheyyar and pockets of union territory Puducherry. Bordering Karnataka, Hosur is an automobile and auto ancillary hub. Well known for electronics clusters, Sriperumbudur has a Nokia facility. Auto companies like Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, BMW and Mitsubishi have large plants in Sriperumbudur. There are steel plants in Gummidipoondi. While traditional trade unions are not reputed to resort to violence for asserting workers’ demands, the new fringe militant trade unions are reportedly indulging in violence quite often for settlement of disputes. In January 2012, the president of Regency Ceramics in Puducherry, was beaten to death by workers. The Confederation of Indian Industry and the Employers’ Federation of South India have been holding closed door meetings with Tamil Nadu police and the state government on the growing power of extremist trade unions.
For the naxalites who don’t subscribe to the ideology of the maoists, even trade union organising by obeying laws may be difficult as the industry in the South is asking the police to take appropriate steps against independent trade union initiatives before it is too late. No doubt independent unions, having no track with the central trade union bureaucracy are the hope for the hundreds of thousands of toilers who are doubly exploited by their employers and traditional trade union bosses. But violence leading to death of managerial staff may be an excuse to crash these unions as maoists inspired. Despite many a shortcoming if independent trade union initiative as it is developing in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere with small following succeeds in isolating politically and organisationally the established central trade unions even partially, it will be a great achievement.
Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 7, Aug 26-Sep1, 2012
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