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Holding gun to government

R. Sundaram

REACTING to the recently-announced opening up of Defence production to the private sector, the Bharat Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which has reportedly 60,000 members among the workers in the Ordnance Factories, has called for an `indefinite' strike there, begin ning July 3. It needs no degree in vedic-astrology to forecast that the other two federations of All-India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) and Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) will make common cause of this even if they are otherwise str ange bedfellows. After nearly 50 years of relentless pursuit, BMS has earned its place now on a par with the others for dealing with the government in its joint councils. Therefore, taking the lead in calling for the strike, at this time, is biting the h and that feeds.

Since 1998, compulsions of competitive posturing are driving the BMS to threaten the NDA Government with industrial action against reforms, in general, and privatisation, in particular. But without much success. Whether the proposed industrial action is executed by the BMS singly or in combination with the other federations, it is necessary to know whose interests are they seeking to protect.

Already, because of low productivity, high costs, aging labour due to restraints on recruitment for over 15 years, poor technology management and excessive bureaucracy, Ordnance Factories' contribution to the purchase by armed forces has dipped to barely 10 per cent during the last five years. It is a law of nature that despite barriers -- be they sociological or ideological -- work flows to the place where it will be got done faster and cheaper. On both counts -- speed and costs -- Ordnance Factori es cannot compete with the productive power of the private sector. Already, without the aid of any disturbing industrial action such as strikes, their cup of woes seems to be spilling over. Just for a minute, let the federation leaders ponder. As individuals, would they buy a pair of socks from the Ordnance Factories at Rs 120 when they are available in the market for Rs 60.

A ``clothing technician'' of the Ordnance Factories, stitches six shirts per shift for a salary and perquisites valued at over Rs 10,000 per month after the Fifth Pay Commission, while in Ambattur, a suburb of Chennai, a garment worker turns out 12-15 sh irts for Rs 3,500 with barely any perquisites, rights of permanency or protection of jobs by tribunals set up to find berths for retired government servants. Even these levels of productivity are being held up to ridicule by the Chinese who stitch up to even 25 shirts per day.

The denouement is round the corner when our neighbour, Bangladesh, whose citizens were not thought to be very different from ours in work ethos, will beat everyone, as they are fast surging ahead as the No.1 garment exporting nation vis-a-vis China. The example of clothing will suffice to hold up the productivity scene to light as even among the Ordnance Factories, by their own standards, comparatively, the productivity levels in clothing group are considered about the best. Adding insult to inefficienc y, the pernicious habit of over-time working during all seasons for reasons right and wrong has been the bane of the Ordnance Factories. The unexceptionable reason is for meeting surges in demands during war without increasing the workforce. The wrong re ason is for earning industrial peace dividends. In 1999-2000 and 2000-01, the overtime component of the wage bill alone was well over 30 per cent. While the federations publicly aver that they are all in favour of rise in productivity, they will do every thing in their power to thwart efforts to introduce at productivity-related incentives at the shop floor, cut piece work rates or abandon overtime working.

It is but true that the Ordnance Factories have performed well in increasing the output to record levels but only when there have been huge orders with no uncertainties related to product performance, no development problems, uninterrupted overtime worki ng and the task no more demanding than bean counting. It is not that the workers of the Ordnance Factories are oblivious to the current predicament. They are in the same situation as the bank employees were a few years ago. Even when the latter knew that the days of monopoly were over and they had to adapt to new technology and yet allowed themselves to be misguided by the unions that the party would go on for ever. But, indeed, things have improved in banks after that: The customer service is remarkabl y better; weak banks -- such as Indian Bank, Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank -- are cutting losses and no staff is playing table-tennis during office hours!

If the federations, even uncharitably, can be assumed to be leading the workers up the garden path, what is the government doing? Confronted with a strike notice, would it not be obvious to expect some well considered moves by the babus in Delhi? Should not a group of managers be formed to enlighten the workers and the federations on the wherefore and why of the new policy if it is in the interest of the country?

However, experience shows, that under such circumstances, invariably, the administrators do precious little until it is too late, apparently calculated either to show the unions in bad light or force the hands of the politicians to make concessions. Whil e the Defence Secretary is the Chairman of the Joint Consultative Machinery at the Ministry Level, the Ordnance Factories are under the charge of the Secretary, Defence Production who, if higher in the pecking order, would not like to take instructions f rom the former. All in all, they would act as though the larger issues are only the concern of the politicians and the small matters of law and order the unit-level management's. If there are intermediate tiers of administration, these will act dutifully as post-offices.

Invariably, the role of the management would be limited to an accurate and an hour-by-hour head count on the days of the strike for reporting it to the AIR and DD and other news feeds. The Government, particularly the Prime Minister, has been repeatedly asserting that no harm would come to the employees. At least, the BMS must take him at his word. If so, there should be no quarrel with improving efficiency and competing on costs. The public is tired of the gimmicks of the unions, the babus and the poli ticians. They want efficiency and performance. The BMS, as a national federation, with no Fabian Socialists in its fold, can well begin on a clean slate, and even if they must protest, they should strike a new path.

(The author is former Member, Ordnance Factories.)