When I was an
Engineer in a factory in mid-1990s, the workers were very young. May be the
average age was 23, many of them recruited and trained by me for our factory
work. They were not exposed to any other working atmosphere. They were
enthusiastic workers but had their minor needs. As advised by a labour
consultant we formed ‘Works Committee’ to solve their issues. The works
committee comprised entirely of workers.
One day when I
entered the factory premises I found that the workers were not working and I
was told that the problem was there was no water in the toilet block. We soon
organized water and they made a pretence of resuming work. They stopped work
after half an hour on the pretext that the ‘vade’ supplied weighed few milligrammes
than that agreed with the canteen contractor. We passified the workers. Still
they refused to resume work and stated that they wanted ‘annual bonus’. We
supervisors lost cool and gave them Rs5 and asked them to distribute it. We
further told them that that was not the way to strike and there was a
procedure. We also promised them to teach the procedure. They continued for
6months.
One of them was ambitious and wanted to
convert it into Workers’ Trade Union. Due to lack of experience he took the help
of a professional trade union leader who was active in a nearby factory, a Govt
of India Undertaking. This TU leader was a brother of a popular Union Minister.
With that man entering the scene the strikes increased in frequency. The
factory had to be locked-up. Even the large factory is shut forever.
Analogy: Works
Committee : Civil Society
Ambitious WC member: Kejriwal
Factory: Union of India ie
Bharat
Immature
Representatives could be interesting to watch while in action but can be
certainly dangerous.
Jai Bharat
