march 2, 2013
Right to Strike
Putting the agenda of the workers at the forefront.
I
ndia witnessed one of the largest mobilisations of its
industrial and service sector workers in recent times when
millions went on a two-day strike on 20 and 21 February
to oppose the government’s economic policies and demand
better working conditions. From reports in the mainstream
press and from the trade unions and striking workers, it does
appear that the strike saw a greater reach than before and
made enough of an impact to make “the deaf hear”. This is
amply evident in the manner in which striking workers were
attacked in different parts of the country. It is also evident in
the shrillness with which the mainstream press attacked the
strike and highlighted a few sporadic instances of violence by
workers. There has been less discussion about the demands of
the workers and more about the loss to the “country”. The busi-
ness press, in a touching expression of concern, editorialised
on the welfare of workers and advised them on how to better-
meet their interests.
The demands of the strike include a minimum wage of
Rs 10,000 a month, pension and social security for workers
irrespective of whether they are in the organised or unorganised
sector, the universalisation of the public distribution system to
cushion against rampaging food inflation, equal wages and
rights for contract and regular workers, the abolition of con-
tract labour, the right to form unions and collective bargaining,
an end to inflation, and enforcement of labour laws. It will be
evident that each of these demands is a matter of life and death
for workers today. This journal itself has carried, with tragic
monotony, detailed reports and research on how working and
living conditions have, at best, stagnated and, in most cases,
declined, while the country’s gross domestic product has multi-
plied many times over and the living conditions of those at the
top of the pyramid have improved visibly. Working hours have
been steadily increased without any improvement in working
conditions or wages. In their race to invite private capital,
governments are doing their very best to keep labour costs
depressed and labour relations “peaceful”. In reality, this only
means that workers are being exploited more and have fewer
platforms for redress.
This is not merely an unsustainable trajectory it also goes
against the very fundamental rights of citizenship which are
granted by our Constitution. It is therefore only right that
Economic & Political Weekly EPW march 2, 2013 vol xlviII no 9
workers are standing up to demand what is theirs and which has
been denied to them repeatedly. A dispassionate appraisal of
the workers’ demands indicates that, if granted, they would
just about suffice for basic survival in present conditions. These
cannot be begrudged by silly talk of “loss”; from precisely those
very sections that are the most pampered with exemptions,
subsidies and bailouts.
It is telling that the government has largely ignored this
strike. It is a reminder of our political context that a few thou-
sand people gathered to demand a Jan Lokpal Bill or gender
justice can move the government and the mainstream media
to hyperactivity, but many millions of workers demanding
basic living conditions are ignored thus! This is not to deny
the importance of the fight against corruption or for gender
justice, but an acknowledgement of the fact that our freedoms
and our politics are still very much defined by class relations.
It was the repeated refusal of the government to accede to the
demands of the workers that forced them to exercise their
right to strike.
While the fundamental right to strike is necessary in such
conditions, the larger failure of the strike despite its very
success brings us to question the strategy of the trade unions
and ask whether it was right to call for strike. It is increasingly
evident that strike as a weapon in one factory, one sector or
even one industrial cluster is often successful in providing
workers immediate relief. However, this weapon seems to
be losing its effect when deployed not in a targeted manner
but over a larger geography of the country or state. Is it wise
to expose the ultimate weapon of the working class to such
corrosive contexts? Further, an overwhelming majority of
India’s working people are either informal labour or self-
employed, often both. Many of them work in conditions that
render them substantively unfree as they remain indebted
to their credit supplier. Does the strike call of the organised
sector workers in such conditions help unite the working class
or does it provide its enemies with a ready-made divisive tool?
This is not an argument against the right to strike, rather a
plea to think of new and innovative methods of class action by
working people.
There has been a clear rightward shift in the mainstream
political arena with the ruling Congress trying hard to
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EDITORIALS

appropriate many aspects of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s agenda.
In such conditions, growing working class activism is not only
welcome but crucial to the survival of a democratic republic.
The demands of the industrial strike of 20 and 21 February 2013
are just and should have been met without workers having
to go on strike. However, this government, hitched as it is to the
sentiments of private capital, is highly unlikely to accede to
these demands. It is necessary therefore for industrial workers
to build alliances with the struggles for livelihoods in all parts
of the country.

8 march 2, 2013 vol xlviII no 9 EPW Economic & Political Weekly