FOCUS

CHICAGO IDEA & UNORGANISED INDIAN LABOUR

On 1st May, some 129 years ago in 1884, over 250,000 people had gathered in Chicago to force an issue of justice and fair play. Restive milling crowd had all the foreboding of militancy. But they had a cause, an idea whose time had come.

American Federation of Labour (AFL) adopted a resolution and demanded from the governments of the day in the U.S. and leaders of trade and industry, that labour in the U.S. will not accept anymore, to work, 10 hrs, 12 hrs or 14 hrs a day of work, as day’s work. AFL demanded that from now on, it shall be 8 hrs work per day to be counted as a day’s work.

Having dilly-dallied for two years, AFL had indicated to the employers and the authorities, enough is enough. Realising the possibility of violence and having accepted as a just demand, the International Working People's Association, the government and the employers organisation accepted the idea of 8 hours as normal working hours per day. On this day history was made in the annals of working class movement, the world over.

For the first time the role of Labour was recognised and accepted as an equally important partner in any economic activity. Thus this Chicago Idea enhanced the respectability of an average workmen everywhere.

To remember this historic moment, 1st May was recorded as International Labour Day which on later years came to be known as May Day, for the posterity to trace its footprints to the CHICAGO IDEA.

The victory of labour in the U.S. did not remain there only, soon it spread to wider world. Now, as we all know, 8 hrs work day is a standard all over the world. However this reform did not confine to only 8 hours a day. In the exploitative world of employers, it was 365 days of work. Liberals among employers accepted the concept of weekly offs. So 52 Sundays became non-working paid days. 6 days a week came to stay.

Suddenly strength of collective bargaining became apparent, so too the power of labour unions and improvements in the life of workmen became the happening events of 20th century. Annual paid leave, sick leave, casual leave and other medical and retirement benefits became part of the working condition packages.

All these led to a section of workmen called organised labour. This section bargained for better and better working condition of less work and more pay. Many times it led to impressions of ‘Exploitation on Reverse Gear’. Labour unions, due to the kind of clout they can command in trade, service and industry, many time they forced the hands of employers.

Look at the Air India pilots agitation for example. Despite government sacking many pilots, they are going soft on taking them back. This has led to complete collapse of discipline. Of course the whole gamut of employer and employee relationship has myriad dimension. There is no single solution for the equally myriad problems of ‘Men and Masters’ combine. India unlike any country in the world presents a chaotic picture of the problem.

In recent times organised labour acquired its political affiliations and hence is very capable and competent to look after its own interest. And come to think of it, this organised sector is only 4% of our entire population. Which means 96% of the population has all the unorganised working class.

The term ‘unorganised labour’ denotes those workers who had not been able to organise themselves in pursuit of their common interest due to constraints like impermanent or short term nature of employment, small and scattered size of establishments, ignorance and even illiteracy.

According to National Sample Survey, of recent years, some 370 million people are working in the unorganised sector. That’s a very huge section of the working class. NSS categories them broadly under occupation, service category, nature of employment and specially distressed category. These four categories have around 30 employments or engagements. From farm hands, fishermen, those engaged in animal husbandry, beedi rolling, construction workers, weavers in rural areas, workers in quarries and kilns, and small industries, migrant workers, contract and casual labourers, scavengers, head load carriers, loaders, unloaders, domestic workers, barbers, barbers to vegetable vendors and fruit vendors etc. are all part of the unorganised working class.

While small and marginal farmers, fishermen, weavers, head load carriers, loaders, barbers, vegetable and fruit vendors etc are, truly speaking, self employed people and hence are not exposed, per se, to the exploitation by employers, although the price they get for their produce and services can be beyond their control and therefore may be rendered helpless to accept what market decides. Of course, markets can have the influential factors which can, in the absence of an organised selling, force less price, which in a way is exploitation of the helplessness of this unorganised sector. But again, there is an element of freedom available to these persons to influence the course of happening, to their advantage even marginally. However it is the lack of organised approach which is the true bane of this sector also.

Then there are those who are truly helpless and completely at the mercy of exploitative employers and masters.

Farm labour, beedi rollers, labelers, packers, construction workers, workers in kilns, quarries, small scale industry workers, bonded labourers, migrant workers, contract and casual workers, scavengers, domestic workers, etc. are those who are exploited to the extreme.

Long working hours, lack of weekly offs, lack of medical assistance, lack of leave and other benefits, low wages, all contribute to the demoralisation of this unorganised sector. Their entire life is controlled by somebody else and that makes their life very vulnerable.

While both the above sectors have scope for governmental and systemic assistance, the later is generally in dire need.

There are some legal covers available to these workers in unorganised sector:

a) Payment of Wages Act of 1936.

b) Employees State Insurance Scheme of 1948.

c) Plantation Labour Act of 1951.

d) Maternity Benefit Act of 1961.

e) Payment of Gratuity Act of 1972.

f) Personal injuries (Compensation Insurance) Act 1963.

Although these acts are part of the statutes, it is rarely invoked by any employee or workmen for the reasons of cumbersome procedure in the legal pursuance of one’s right and the inordinate delays caused by judicial procedures. Thus the exploitation continued without any hindrance.

Over the years, successive governments made right noises to address the problems faced by this faceless multitude, but not much has happened to get this unorganised sector under some kind of long term social security net.

Whether it is the farm hands in agro activities, or the unskilled & semiskilled construction workers, or workers in hazardous small scale industries, child labour in difficult work conditions, some of whom can even end up as bonded labourers only due to poverty and hunger.

As we all know, bonded labour is when a person is forced, literally, to mortgage his life and often his posterity, in return for that small loan of a few hundred rupees. Yes, there has been a law since over 35 years, abolishing bonded labour but things leave much to be desired, on the ground.

Looking back over the past 64 years, of free India, how are we in 2012, is a question we need to ponder.

Just the other day, in fact on 2nd May, a day after the MAY DAY, 52 minors were rescued from factories in Byculla, a Mumbai suburb. According to a resident of one Patra Chawl, a dormitory type living rooms, there are about 25 to 30 units employing on an average six children in terrible working conditions. They were made to work for long hours, and confined to the rooms only, for both work, so also to eat and sleep. These children were from UP and Bihar with a Nepalese youngster added. According to the police who arrested some 20 employers, ‘we had raided Patra Chawl quite a few times in the past, but poverty brings them back’ observed DC-Police.

Mannual scavenging is banned sine 1970 in Karnataka, but it is only in statute books. On 7th May a print media report informed ‘Manual scavenging still continues in Tumkur’. Normally these jobs are carried out, reportedly by Dalits who are safai karmacharies of municipalities, to earn some extra money, especially in Tumkur, which still do have housing areas which are not connected to the underground sewer system. A government that is concerned with the welfare of its people, cannot even arrange to upgrade drainage system which is eminently possible. Deaths due to asphyxiation is quite common. Not only these deaths go uncompensated, no remedial work is attended to. This is Yeh Mera India and we are dreaming of becoming Super Power.

Despite there being Minimum Wages Act of 1948, and Inter State Migrant Workmen Act of 1979, in to-day’s Bengalooru, construction workers are reportedly paid, by a company Rs. 50/- per week when it promised Rs: 157/- per day. The company in question, press informs, is B.L. Kashyap & Sons Ltd., building houses for Army Welfare Housing Association. This company, informs the report, having been found guilty of anti labour practices were levied a huge penalty for falsification of documents. There is a court case filed against this company. Despite this they are still in business. This is another dimension of Yeh Mera India.

Yes, there are any number of problems of these unorganised labour. All governments whether central or states, are doing all that they are doing, for the welfare of this exploited section, half heartedly. With corruption being rampant in every walk of life, helpless suffering sections of our Mera Bharath Mahan continue to suffer without much of a fight. That is indeed very sad.

It is very easy to blame somebody else for the unremitting suffering of this exploited section of our society. But the fact of the matter is the apathy of the system, apathy of the civil society and of course, the resignation of the suffering masses to their fatalism, all adds for company’s like Kashyap & Sons to exploit the system to their brazen selfish business practices.

Thus May Day comes and goes into the history, as just another day. We need to spare our thoughts and actions for those victims of time and circumstances for the larger good of the society around us. We owe it the society we live, in some form or the other. Can we call ourselves civilized, if we cannot protect our weak and vulnerable?

J.Shriyan