Dr Ashok Kumar Choubey
Retired Professor Agricultural Extension Education
Every year May 1 is celebrated as Labor Day all over the world. The slogan ‘Workers of the world unite’ echoes in the sky. But the slogans have not brought much change in the condition of the workers of the world. Even today the workers are helpless. Many people are deprived of basic facilities at the work place, yet that worker is earning money for someone through his sweat. But his family is still living in a slum, drinking dirty water and living without electricity. In big cities, the workers’ colony is known as slum. Some laborers’ families are living in the same settlements, some are sitting on the roadside, on the tracks and some on the banks of the drain. The government suddenly takes away their polythene houses in the name of removing encroachment.
This is the story of organized and unorganized workers working in industries in every city of India. The workers are not paid on time. So the working time is twelve hours. Wages are limited to ten thousand. There is no school or free medical treatment for their boys, yet we beat the drum that laborers are the backbone of the country’s development. And every day the industrialist keeps breaking this very backbone. And keeps increasing his income. There is a competition to pay low wages to the workers. Industrialists of every country of the world keep searching for cheap laborers all the time.
Indian workers are working cheapest among the developed and underdeveloped countries of the world. Whatever country he is in, he is just a forced labourer. The living facilities there are also not very good. To say that the boy is working abroad is the same as the laborers of Bihar, UP, Bengal live in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat. More or less, the situation of Indian laborers is the same in every country of the world. Even today, laborers in the world are living in slavery.
In 1886, the workers first protested in Chicago to fix their working time at eight hours and for better facilities, which was successful. Today, the situation of the workers has again become like that of 1886. Be it in the organized sector or the unorganized sector, the workers have become helpless.
Today the world of capital has turned the entire world into a market. Where everything is ready for sale, its price is decided by the owners of the capital. The farmers of India grow crops in the fields. But it is the moneylender who decides at what price it will be sold in the market. Today laborers are being sold like farm crops. Every government announcement for laborers in cities and villages has become a mere sham. The government is not paying wages under MNREGA in villages for many months. On the other hand, work in MNREGA has been reduced and MNREGA is not running in the cities.
The success that the workers achieved in Chicago in the year 1886 has today reached its old position after 137 years. Just a few days ago, the whole country has seen the movement of workers of Noida. The workers were demanding increase in their wages, increasing the working hours to eight hours and better facilities at the workplace. But after the intervention of the government, they got a little, but they did not get the salary of twenty thousand per month. This is the condition of the workers in the organized sectors, the condition is worse than this in the unorganized sector. of laborers in the areas.
In India, there is a female workforce along with male laborers in both organized and unorganized sectors. But discrimination in wages is still happening. In some places women also work twelve hours a day. It is not that men are being exploited in industries. Today, women workers are also being exploited all over the world. Women are respected only in slogans and women power is praised in advertisements. The ground reality is something else. When women join the labor movement, the police use batons on them and drag them by the hair. Then nowhere does the voice of any labor leader organization or political leader arise asking why the women were beaten with sticks by the policemen and why they were dragged by the hair. This is the story of every movement.
If India has to be developed in 2047, then seventy percent of the women will have to participate in the female work force at key levels. The laborer in India is forced to work hard and yet the industries earn money for their husbands. There is no rule made in any country in the world as to what percentage of the profits of the industries will be spent on better facilities for the workers. But the governments made a new rule that the industrialists will spend two percent of their profits under social responsibility and on the development of the villages around them. But this rule was not made that every industrialist will spend two percent of his profits every year for the schools and hospitals of the district for the good education and health care of the laborers’ children.
And with the same two percent profit, one can build comfortable houses for the workers but such facility is available to the workers in very few industries. The industries which had this facility gradually got closed due to the unrestrained movement of the mill workers and due to the connivance of the labor leaders with the mill owners. Even today, many government and private industries in India are closed in Bengal, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh. Now the government never takes interest in running these industries, nor has it modernized them. The workers working in these mills are still fighting cases in the court for their dues.
In 1920, workers took part in the movement in large numbers and won. The movement was then linked to India’s independence. In Noida or other cities, workers keep coming to the streets from time to time demanding salaries. They are not able to fight like the movements of 1886 or 1920. At that time, the workers’ organization had one voice, today there are many organizations with many voices but only when the lessons are divided, they are being cut. This slogan is true if you can, you will be cut. Today in reality, the workers’ organization is in opposition to the government, so the organization of the power is not in the movement. The movement in Noida lasted only for four days and due to the fear of lathi case, a compromise was reached and all the problems were solved with a salary increase of Rs. 1,500.
Don’t know why the government is not able to determine the minimum wage for private sector workers considering the level of cities and metros. Can never be sure. Are private industries following the minimum wage rules of the government? Or the workers are being exploited. Today, due to unemployment, the youth are forced to work at eight to ten thousand rupees. In the cities, giga workers are working as laborers in online service provider companies like Zomato, Sweety e-cart etc. on their motorcycles. So, how much salary and security is there?
If these youth die in a road accident at the time of service or delivery, have the companies provided life insurance worth Rs. 30-40 lakhs? Perhaps the answer is no. What amount of assistance will the company provide if they become disabled? Nothing is clear today. Exploitation of laborers in every way has become the hallmark of development. Development of industries through exploitation of workers is becoming the slogan of developed India. Today the government has also created a new way of employment for exploitation, contract and outsourced jobs, this is also government exploitation. But the government and courts are silent. On exploitation of workers.
On the first Labor Day, this day will be celebrated all over the world and the slogan will be workers unite and fight against exploitation, but exploitation starts from the government and flows like a river stream to the private sectors. Which doesn’t stop. Will not be able to stop. Even the government now does not want to provide permanent job and social security pension. By providing all kinds of facilities to its MPs, MLAs, leaders at the Panchayat level, it is trying to keep the youth of the country as laborers and is also trying to keep them. For example, government workers are not voters in Bengal. But all of them are engaged in election duty, this is the compulsion of the government workers. The pension, medical house of the workers are all closed.
But MPs and MLAs get every kind of facility, free pension, medical house, electricity, water and travel. This year, the workers of the country should ask a question to the government. We the workers are participating in the development of the country by providing labour. But what labor are the MPs and MLAs giving? This new king is a hindrance in the development of the country. Their demand for closure of all the facilities should be made on the first Labor Day. Workers should unite and demand their rights. Struggle in every way till they get their rights. Fight for the rights. Workers should not be forced to do so. Workers should become the destiny makers of the country and society.
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