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K.G. Kumar

As Kerala seeks to get past its sticky reputation of resting on the laurels of its development history, it's time to search for new paradigms that go beyond the fist-clenching, slogan-belching, placard-waving immobilisation of the State's economic arteries, as exemplified by last week's general strike.

Last Thursday, life came to a standstill in Kerala as most shops, offices and establishments remained shut in response to the call by pro-Left trade unions to observe a 24-hour national general strike to protest the economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre. While the strike was lukewarm in most of the States, in those where the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) is part of the ruling coalition - specifically, Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura - it was a resounding "success".

That is, going by the claims of leaders of the pro-Left parties and unions such as the Centre for Indian Trade Union (CITU), the workers' arm of the CPI-M. However, was it truly a "success" from the point of view of advancing the State's interests and its development agenda?

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has put the strike-induced losses in Kerala and West Bengal at Rs 2,000 crore on account of the paralysis of economic activities in these two States and the impact of the strike on essential services like air and road transportation.

Assocham's estimates are based on the feedback it received from its promoter chambers in the two States, the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Kolkata Merchant's Chamber.

REAL VICTIMS

The real victims of the strike - which, in Kerala, turned out to be a "bandh", a total shutdown of all economic activities - were the small and powerless - the petty traders and wayside merchants, the daily labourers and casual workers, all of whom eke out a hand-to-mouth living on a day-to-day basis.

They are the ones who do not enjoy the benefits and protection accorded to Kerala's "labour aristocracy", those in the organised sector who can take shelter under the wide and leak-proof umbrella of militant unions and trade associations. And the victors? In Kerala's case, undoubtedly, the State Government employees, who got an official paid holiday, since the pro-strike government will not implement the `dies non' policy of no-pay-for-no- work.

AN IRONY

What was most ironic about the strike was the incongruity of its chief proponents sharing power - or, more precisely, supporting "from the outside" - the UPA Government, against whose policies they were agitating. What they could not prevent or re-negotiate in the corridors of shared power in New Delhi, they chose to settle in the streets of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura.

The strike did not spare the information technology (IT) sector in either State. According to a member of West Bengal Information Technology Services Association (WBITSA), the nascent CITU-affiliated trade union body, " The attendance was 30 per cent in the IT sector. We consider call centres as part of essential services but software development is not under their purview."

The effects of the strike, while less palpable in the IT centres of Kerala such as Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infocity in Kochi, were more pronounced in the Salt Lake IT hub of West Bengal. As the unionisation of IT workers spreads to Kerala, "digital divide" of an insulated upper-echelon knowledge workers and the proletarian working class will possibly get bridged in a rather unsavoury fashion.

As Kerala seeks to get past its sticky reputation of resting on the laurels of its development history, it's time to search for new paradigms - prototypes that go beyond the fist-clenching, slogan-belching, placard-waving immobilisation of the State's economic arteries, as exemplified by last week's general strike.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Kerala | Random Walk

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