HAIL!

MAY DAY 2016

Trade unions are all the more relevant today!

We take immense pleasure in extending May day Greetings to all. May Day,
the day to celebrate the liberation of workers of the world from slavery and
a day of rededication to march towards higher goals.
It is 130 years since May First, 1886, the workers all over the world, recollecting
their past, the glorious struggles conducted and the successes achieved, come out
to the streets and celebrate the day with their brethren rededicating themselves for
fulfilling the future tasks.
It all started when it was officially resolved by the Federation of Organized Traders
and Labour Unions of the United States and Canada, that eight hours shall
constitute legal day of labour from May First, 1886, and that it was recommended
to labour organizations throughout their jurisdiction and that they so direct their
laws as to conform to this resolution. Since then it was May Day. On the Sunday
before May First the Central Labour Union organized a demonstration which was
attended by more than 25,000 workers.
The May First strike was most aggressive in Chicago, which was at that time the
center of a militant labour movement. Although insufficient, it was nevertheless a
fighting movement, always ready to call the workers to action, develop their
fighting spirit and set their goal not only on the immediate improvement of their
living and working conditions, but the establishment of socialistic system.
On May First Chicago witnessed a great outpouring of workers, who laid down
tools at the call of the organized labour movement of the city. It was the most
effective demonstration of class solidarity yet experienced by the labour movement
itself. The importance at that time of the demand the 8-hour day and the extent
and character of the strike gave the movement significant political meaning. This
significance was deepened by the developments of the next few days. The 8-hour
movement, culminating in the strike on May First, 1886, became a glorious chapter
in the fighting history of the American working class.

Every uprising of the workers would be matched by the manipulations of the ruling
class, though workers impact the final victory. The victorious march of the Chicago
workers was arrested by the then superior combined force of the employers and the
state, determined to put down the militant leaders, hoping thereby to deal a deadly
blow to the entire labour movement. The events of May 3 and 4, which led to what
is known as the Haymarket Affair, were a direct outgrowth of the May First strike.
The demonstration held on May 4 at Haymarket Square was called to protest
against the brutal attack of the police upon a meeting of striking workers at the
McCormick Reaper Works on May 3, where six workers were killed and many
wounded. The meeting was peaceful and about to be adjourned when the police
again launched an attack upon the assembled workers. A bomb was thrown into the
crowd, killing a sergeant. A battle ensued with the result that seven policemen and
four workers were dead. The blood bath at Haymarket Square, led Parsons, Spies,
Fischer, and Engel to the gallows and the imprisonment of the other militant
Chicago leaders. Such was the intensity of the counter measures of the ruling class
all over the country. The second half of 1886 was marked by a concentrated
offensive of the employers, determined to regain the position lost during the strike
movement of 1885-1886.
One year after the hanging of the Chicago labour leaders, the Federation, now
known as the American Federation of Labour, at its convention in St. Louis in
1888, voted to rejuvenate the movement for the 8-hour day. May First, which was
already a tradition, having served two years before as the focal point of the
powerful movement of the workers based upon a political class issue, was again
chosen as the day upon which to re-inaugurate the struggle for the 8hour day. May First, 1890, was to witness a nation-wide strike for the shorter
workday. At the convention in 1889, the leaders of the A.F.L. headed by Samuel
Gompers, succeeded in limiting the strike movement. It was decided that the
Carpenters' Union, which was considered best prepared for the strike, should lead
the strike, and if it proved successful, other unions were to fall in line. The
significance of simultaneous international proletarian demonstrations was
appealing more and more to the imagination and revolutionary instincts of the
workers throughout the world, and every year witnessed greater masses
participating in the demonstrations.
The response of the workers showed itself in the following addition to
the May First resolution adopted at the next Congress of the International at Zurich
in 1893:
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The demonstration on May First for the 8-hour day must serve at the same time as
a demonstration of the determined will of the working class to destroy class
distinctions through social change and thus enter on the road, the only road leading
to peace for all people, to international peace.
Sri Gopal Ghosh in his booklet Bharate May-Divas says:
When a strike demanding eight-hours working day had not yet taken place
anywhere else in the world, at that time in 1862 the railway workers of Howrah
had struck demanding eight-hours working day, 1100 workers participated in
the strike. Though history does not record whether this strike was successful,
Somprakash, a newspaper of that time did support this strike
This strike of the Howrah railway workers, spontaneous and unorganized though it
was can justly claim to be the first strike of the Indian working class engaged in a
major industry. There are instances of strikes by palanquin bearers of Calcutta of
an earlier period, but they were really stoppage of work and not strikes by workers
engaged in a major industry.
The demand for fixing hours of working day in India was first formulated by
Sapurji Bengali of Bombay in 1877. He had even drafted a bill on the basis of a
proposed factory law, and had it distributed. A little before this Sasipada Banerjee
of the Brahmo Samaj movement had already raised the demand for a factory law in
many public and other meetings. As a result of all these agitations, the first factory
law was drafted in India in 1881 and an 8 hour working day with an extra hours
rest was adopted for the industrial proletariat. At that time as in England the
general rule for work was from sunrise to sunset.
Even today the situation is no better. Even after a century and quarter filled with
struggles and revolutions the class struggle continues. Comrades the ruling class is
repeating history, be it 1886 or 20146 the colour has not changed. The only
difference is, in 1886 it was forced by the capitalist and now it is the turn of their
influenced governments. Today even in the largest democratic country like India
which is supposed to be by the people and for the people, the situation is no good.
The government is still in the grip of capitalists leaving in lurch the larger interest
of its people and the workers. In India also, we are observing the increasing attacks
on public sector, huge concessions to the corporates but simultaneous attacks on
the labour rights.

A data in the year 2007 itself reveals 40 individuals have been able to amass a
wealth of over 170 b $ but 40 crores of Indian people still live below the poverty
line with a daily income of less than one $ ! Despite the Rupee dropping 14%
against the US Dollar, it has been a good year for Indias rich. The total wealth of
Indias Top 100 increased in 2013 to US$ 250bn from US$ 221bn compared 2012,
46new millionaires found entry in the coveted list and 5 from the Rich List 2012
could not make 2013s cut off mark of US$ 300m. On the other handPoverty in
India is widespread, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. In
2010, the World Bank reported that 32.7% of all people in India fall below
the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day (PPP) while 68.7% live on less
than US$ 2 per day. According to 2010 data from the United Nations Development
Programme, an estimated 29.8% of Indians live below the country's national
poverty line. A 2010 report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development
Initiative (OPHI) states that 8 Indian states have 421 million poor people more
poor people than Sub-Saharan Africa. A 2013 UN report stated that a third of the
worlds poorest people live in India.
Hence it is imperative to strengthen the labour movement and educate workers so
that they defend not only their immediate economic demands but also the policies
to save their rights.
May Day is an occasion to take stock of the situation as far as workers are
concerned. The day refers to the struggle in 1886 in Chicago, where the demand
was of eight hours of work, eight hours of rest and eight hours of recreation. The
essence of the whole demand was that there should be a limit to the exploitation of
workers.
Before mechanisation, it used to be a dawn-to-dusk affair for workers. But when
electricity was invented and machinery came into existence, workers fought
against electric bulbs, as they had to continue working even late at night.
May Day is an occasion to celebrate trade union, at least for those who believe in
it. I say this because there is a section in the government, and trade unions as well,
which does not accept May Day as such. Even the government of the USA doesnt
consider this as a holiday. Only a section of workers in the USA take up this cause
of May Day.
In India everybody talks of May Day, though they dont accept its revolutionary
essence of fighting against exploitation of workers. Here, the trade union
movement started in the early 20th century; by 1918 we had formal trade unions, in
1923 May Day was first observed in Chennai and by 1926 we had a trade union
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Act. But today, the situation of the working class is critical. Every time workers
face a problem they have to organise themselves, they have to resist and fight.
Even during the pre-independence era, workers organised themselves, struggled,
and forced the British government to enact certain legislations to safeguard their
interests. The British workers and their legacy had an impact on a colony like
India. After the constitution was adopted in 1950, India was projected as a welfare
state and workers struggled to demand their rights.
Today, everybody questions the need of 44 labour legislations in the central sphere.
But we need to understand that these legislations have been fought for at every
step. Be it those related to social security or industrial dispute, they all came at
different stages of demands from workers and after bitter struggles.
Till 1991, the labour department was considered to be the labour welfare
department. But 1991 onwards, with the background of the international
developments and introduction of neo-liberal policies in India, workers came under
attack where many existing benefits were either stopped or the government made
serious efforts to amend those. The government started talking about reforms and
right-sizing (read downsizing) workers. But because of the political situation they
could not make much change in it at that time.
From 1991 to 2014, the governments could not make much effort in changing
labour laws. But there have been serious efforts to attack the rights of workers. So
much so that even the formation of a trade union has become a serious problem
over the years.
Earlier also there were struggles; there were anti-union actions by managements.
But 1991 onwards, even the government was fully on the side of the management.
There were serious problems in any effort to form a trade union. The right to form
association and the right to collective bargaining are part of our constitution. The
conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) also acknowledge the
right to organise (No. 87) and the right to collective bargaining (No. 98).
The government of India is part of ILO and was one of its founding members.
India was the only colonial country which was a founding member and even has a
permanent place in the governing body in the organisation from its inception. But
still these two conventions have never been ratified by India. Even ILO is
campaigning for the ratification of these two conventions in our country. There has
been massive victimisation of workers in the last 20 years on the question of
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forming unions of their choice.

It has been seen that wherever new industries were established, the management
did not want a trade union to come up. Even international investors saw labour
laws as the biggest hurdle and they pressurised the government against it. They
even saw this as a hurdle against employment opportunity and they spread the
message among the younger generation that it was because of trade unions that
they were not getting employment opportunities.
From the Narasimha Rao government to UPA II,now the NDA every government
wanted/wants to bring changes in labour laws but either because of the political
situation or because of the combination within parliament, they could not do so.
But the current government, immediately after taking charge, has started attacking
trade unions and making serious efforts to dilute labour laws. Reform is a good
word, but it has become the most hated word as far as workers are concerned. We
respected social reformers and we wanted reforms but now no worker will ask for
a reform because for him reform means changing for the worse.
Relevance of trade unions
The slogan that there is no relevance of trade unions is not only used in India, but
has also become powerful in the developed world. Even in Europe and the USA,
workers are under attack wages are being reduced and working hours increased.
Other benefits, including social security and pension, are also under attack.
Massive strikes and struggles are going on in Europe and the USA.
Now there is a new concept of zero-hour contract, where the worker is not
guaranteed how many hours of work he will be given, and it will be decided by the
employer. It has come up in the European countries, especially in the UK, and it
should be seen as a warning for Indian workers as well where work can be on an
hourly basis and on many days he/she may not get work at all.
Only 5-7 percent of the workforce in India is in the organised sector and within
this, 50-60 percent of the workers, including those working in Maharatna and
Navratna public sector companies, are working on contract. So, the informal nature
of the job has spread to even the organised sector, both in private and public.
Trade unions, in that sense, are in a defensive position. They are not able to
advance from the existing positions but are defending whatever exists today. Their
relevance is much more today because whatever they have achieved after the
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struggle of more than 100 years is under attack and those achievements have to
defended.
The Indian situation
Even before the BJP-led NDA came to power in the centre, the BJP government in
Rajasthan made amendments to labour laws. And the prime ministers office has
now given a direction to other state governments to follow the Rajasthan model.
Already the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana,
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have either started working in this direction or
have already implemented the changes all of which are against the interests of
workers. In effect, majority of workers have been taken out of the purview of
labour laws.
There have been serious efforts to further dilute the existing laws. We are reaching
a stage where the relevance of the labour department itself is under attack and it is
becoming redundant.
From September 2009 onwards, all the 11 central trade union organisations and
various federations which are not part of these trade unions, like those in banks and
insurance sectors, have come together and are fighting for a 10-point charter of
demands, which is not for any immediate economic relief to workers, but is a voice
against the policies. They are raising issues like price rise, demanding employment
opportunity and implementation of labour laws and ratification of ILO conventions
and more than 12 crore workers have participated in the countrywide strike actions,
the last one being a 48-hour general strike.
Another biggest challenge is the rights of scheme workers, including those
working under anganwadi, accredited social health activist (ASHA), mid-day meal
and other schemes. There are around one crore workers who are not treated as
workers but as volunteers with honorarium. They are doing really important work,
but they are not even paid 50 percent of the notified minimum wages. When
workers are facing this sort of situation, the relevance of the trade union becomes
much more than what it was earlier.
In 2008, we enacted a new law to provide social security for workers in the
unorganised sector. The only decision on social security was the implementation of
the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) which gave a medical insurance
benefit of '30,000 but mainly to those in the below poverty line (BPL) category. In
the first year '1,000 crore was allocated in the budget but even that was not spent
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properly and the scheme was not properly implemented.

In the name of opening up the economy, all benefits are being given to private
players. Trade unions today are more relevant, not only to defend the interests of
the workers and their existing benefits or to increase wages, but also to raise voice
against such policies, which are against the working people as a whole.
Trade unions have been protesting against these policies since 2009. And in 10
months of the new government, we had to speak against the unilateral decisions
being taken by the government on issues related to workers. The government is not
listening to us. How could the finance minister of the country say in his budget
speech that he would appropriate '6,000 crore from the EPF to build a senior
citizen welfare fund? What is the right of the government to take away the corpus
of these accounts? Who gave them the authority to use this money? It is the
workers money; there is no contribution of the government.
And then he talks of giving an option between EPF and the new pension scheme
(NPS), the employees state insurance (ESI) or a health insurance product. EPF and
ESI are social security schemes whereas NPS is only a tool for saving. Though the
functioning of these social schemes needs to be improved, they give certain social
security to workers. The compulsory nature of the EPF and ESI in a country where
the older generation does not have anything and where the government had to
enact that if the children of the ageing parents do not look after them they will be
punished becomes more relevant. But the government wants to change social
security schemes to a savings scheme so that money can be put into the share
market. Trade unions have unanimously rejected this proposal.
Revival of trade unions
In the Indian context, the number of members of unions are on the increase. But
the huge majority of the working people are not yet unionised. Trade unions should
get strengthened both in their membership and also in their capacity to struggle to
resist these policies and defend workers interests. A struggle is needed, not only to
press for immediate economic demands, but also against the policies of the
government that forms the basic cause of attack on their livelihood and their hard
won rights. Trade unions should be able to unify various sections of working
people and conduct struggles.
I am of the firm opinion that trade unions are more relevant today more than any
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other time. May Day is an occasion to rededicate ourselves to the cause of workers
and fight against the exploitation of working people.
In this atmosphere of mutual distrust among trade unions and their weakening
bargaining power, the capitalist class is able to push through its agenda of
economic reforms, knowing fully well the hard reality that unions will only bark
and not bite. It is high time that the unions realise the prevailing social and
economic scenario buttressed by the forces of globalisation so as to bring about a
change in their strategy, rather than getting sidelined by the state and capitalist
class.
Unemployment has become AIDS of the Indian working class wasting their
lives away in underemployment and unemployment without any hope. The global
upheavals and set back received to the trade union movement all over the world
has divided atomized and confused workers. The Indian working class is also
caught in cross infection. Hence May Day 2014 message of preserving unity of
working people irrespective of diversities in their independent ideologies assumes
significance and needs to be observed by all of us befittingly.
The tussle between the ruling class and the workers always remains. It is for us to
stoke the fire alive by drawing lessons from the past and to continue our journey
for preserving the hard earned rights of the workers by our predecessors.
The working class movement in our country too has been striving hard for the
cause of toiling masses. They Continue to carry on the legacy of the May Day.
they are the worthy successors to those pioneers who gave their life and living for
making May Day a memorable day to the toiling masses. They stand for the
solidarity of the working class and classless society free from exploitation and
subjugation. As an organization they strive to make their efforts worthwhile by our
sincere and dedicated endeavours. They bring about new benefits and rights to
members, more particularly to comrades in the lowest strata. This year would
witness more benefits to members.
The only way to win the subsequent battles is planning for war along with others in
the same predicament. There is no alternative to solidarity. And MAY 1st is an
appropriate day internationally to remember what we are forgetting while
collecting our pay & allowances. There can be no allowance in the issue of
solidarity.
Let the spirit of May Day permeate among all of us with greater vigour.
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With Revolutionary greetings

S.Srinivasan
1-05-2016

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