May Day: Politicisation of the workers
'Workers of the World Unite', a battle cry coined by Karl Marx urging the working class to rally together to upend the capitalist system has long been relegated to the dustbin of history, not least by the countries that espoused such catchy slogans. Those words were even entrenched in the former Soviet Union (USSR) Constitution and its state emblem only to be discarded with its collapse in the 1990s by its successor, the Russian Federation.
May Day next Wednesday is dedicated universally to the working class. In Sri Lanka, however, it is a political party fest and workers march to different drums carrying politicians on their shoulders hoping to install them in power and place. If their party is elected, union leaders end up on the directorates of public enterprises, and the foot soldiers who do all the placard-carrying and shouting in the hot sun end up back at home left in the lurch. Exclusively non-political workers’ trade unions of the past, like the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), which knew how to negotiate and resort to strike action as a last resort, are a handful nowadays.
To win the backing of the workers, political parties, especially when in Opposition, play to the gallery, so to say. For instance, they stall all possible efforts at divesting state enterprises, especially lossmaking ones, or even PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships) wanting the status quo to remain. It is one thing to prevent SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) from being sold to unscrupulous private parties, yet another to place roadblocks on genuine efforts at maximising efficiency and reversing balance sheets so that they are no longer a burden on the public purse.
Interestingly, a delegation from the Communist Party of China visited the JVP/NPP leaders in Colombo this week. From all accounts, the local combine is in the process of transformation from what was once a revolutionary party, later a Socialist party and now what appears to be a Social Democratic party. They say the world has changed, and so have they; an admission that their old brand of socio-political-economic theory was a flop.
The 'Nava' Chinese CP itself has dumped its old economic theories and embraced a Social Market Economy (SME) which has a dominant role for state enterprises, but permits private ownership and business. It does not allow independent trade unions, however. All must come within one umbrella trade union controlled by the party, in a one-party state. Strikes are not encouraged in China as it pursues its goal of becoming the world's leading trading partner. Exceptions are few, and mostly allowed at foreign-owned factories. Whether the JVP/NPP intends following the Chinese economic model and their policy outlawing organised independent trade unions has yet to be spelled out.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's labour issues have already been exported. The European Union has linked them to the grant of their GSP Plus facility. At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN Special Rapporteur's report on Sri Lanka, under the heading, 'Contemporary Forms of Slavery' no less, concentrates on working conditions in the garment industry, plantation sector and in microfinancing schemes. These are being painstakingly responded to by the Sri Lankan Government. The scrutiny also includes calls for the protection of Sri Lanka's migrant workers, human trafficking and exploitation.
Next Wednesday will see political parties leading their respective trade unions along the streets of Colombo flexing their political muscle on the eve of elections. It is all a numbers game; the number of buses that can transport greater numbers to their rallies.
Slogan shouting against low wages and high taxes, IMF conditions, and Government plans of divesting itself of state holdings, these parties will have to be mindful of what they will inherit and whether they will be able to deliver on the promises they make from their platforms on Wednesday if and when ensconced in office.