Government employees and strikes in a democracy

Government Employees and Strikes

By

Sharad Bailur

The recent strike by the workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for more bonus brought to a head a number of issues that need to be examined by the State and Central Government in the larger context of government employees and their right to strike.

All of us agree that we are a democracy and that, as far as possible, we follow the democratic exercise as fairly as possible right down to the village level, every four or five years. That those elected to hold office are those who have been chosen by the majority of the citizens of this nation. That therefore the people have delegated to them the right to govern on their behalf for a fixed period of time, to be renewed every few years as a mandate. Hence, Government of the people, by the people and for the people.

The elected body of the BMC is therefore as much a creature of the people’s will as is the Central Government. Any act performed by this elected body is therefore an act performed on behalf of the population of Mumbai that it represents. That when it tells its workers that it will give them a bonus of, say, Rs 3000, it tells them so on behalf of the people who elected them and who, in the final instance, pay both their salaries and the bonus. I am sure no sane person disputes the situation mentioned thus far.

If what is mentioned above is true and above board then, by definition, the opposite is untrue, vicious, treasonous and against the will of the people who elected the BMC. If the BMC workers’ Union demands bonuses well beyond what was offered, this clearly means that they want the people to pay more by way of taxes so that they can get the bonus. Where else will the money come from? When workers go on strike to force the money out of the pockets of the BMC, they are in fact trying to hold the people to ransom and forcing the money out of their pockets. This amounts to terrorism and blackmail. When the water supply of one of the largest cities in the world is shut down deliberately by them, it amounts to terrorism and blackmail too.

I have some sort of a dim recollection, from studying about it back in 1965, that somewhere in that large tome called the laws of India, there are laws against terrorism and blackmail. Laws are not meant to sit in tomes to be discussed by lawyers. They are made to be applied. Apply them.

For starters, I have the following suggestions:

1. Arrest all BMC workers; all, without exception, even a pregnant employee about to give birth.

2. Let them stay behind bars under TADA for the designated period.

3. Amend TADA to ensure that every similar transgression in the future by any worker against the elected will of the people will be met with progressively more severe punishment. The period of imprisonment could be doubled by geometric progression each time, for example.

4. Call in the CRPF and the CISF get them to take over the duties of those BMC workers who have been arrested. If they are unable to do so, call in the Army. It will be doing a more useful job than strutting about on parade grounds.

5. Dismiss all those who are members of the Union. The BMC Union by definition is an anti-democratic institution, in the context of the BMC being a democratic one.

6. Disband the Union and make it unlawful to have one in a democratic context. The will of the people cannot be represented by two rival organisations, the Union and the BMC, which espouse opposite points of view. Besides, the BMC has the mandate of the people at large who pay its salaries. The Union does not.

This does not mean that workers unions should, in general, be made unlawful. That would be going against the Constitution. Unions should be permitted to function lawfully in undemocratic situations in the private sector industry, for example. Or else, the workers there will be exploited and ground down into the dust by those very people who today swear by democracy and who would wish the BMC’s workers put behind bars.

What should apply to the BMC, should apply to all public sector industries or businesses. The public sector is owned by the Government. Nobody disputes that. The Government is run by the elected representatives of the people. Nobody disputes that either. The elected representatives are creatures of the people’s will and mandate. No dispute there either. No vote. No Vajpayee. No Manmohan Singh..

Therefore an act by anybody, organised or otherwise, that goes against the smooth running of a public sector organisation amounts to treason against the will of the people, especially in a demonstrably democratic country like ours. The following measures must be taken if the government is not to be seen as the weak kneed, spineless moron that it today appears to be:

1. Ban all Union activity in Central and State Government owned institutions and their subsidiaries.

2. Arrest all Union leaders in public sector undertakings and put them behind bars under TADA. Amend TADA to make further transgressions in the future punishable by progressively more severe measures each time.

3. Permit, indeed encourage, union activity in any non-democratic institution, including the private sector industry and services sector.

4. Hand over, till matters settle down, the running of these institutions to organisations like the Army, the CRPF, the CISF and the RAF.

This entire process, which amounts to a rejuvenation of the nation’s industrial progress and the re-taking of control by Government, will be painful. It will cause disruption. But it will have the blessings of the people who gave the Government their mandate. Once this matter is solved to the satisfaction of the Government and of the people at large, Government workers can go back to work under a new law that expressly forbids them to form unions or to indulge in any activity prejudicial to or against the will of the people. Those among them who do not like it can lump it. Any transgression, and back to jail they go. Or quit their jobs. After all, they did not join the service of the Government or the BMC because they were forced to. They did it voluntarily. They can look for other jobs, preferably in private industry and try honing their Union-related instincts there. After all, Union activity is protected by the Constitution. But not against the will of the people.