Strategy and tactics of Indian working class

STRATEGY AND TACTICS OF INDIAN WORKING CLASS IN THE ERA OF GLOBALISATION

(Draft prepared by MUKUL SINHA, PRESIDENT, GFTU)

24.1.2009

The Betrayed Vanguard:

              For quite sometime now, the Indian working class appears to have been inflicted with some variety of paralytic disability. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the expansion of “globalization” across the globe, the working class movement has become more or less frozen. An explanation which has been often heard coming from the leadership of the major central trade unions to “explain” this ailment is that the “Globalization” has thrown the industrial houses of the country into the vortex of competition of the world market and to remain in competition, they have to cut the cost of production. The consequence that must follow therefore is the loss of salary, jobs, security and denial of legal protection to the workers; thus, terrified by such prospects, the workers shun any form of trade union action!

              This reasoning of abandoning the working class struggle is nothing but a betrayal of the interest of the workers and must be met with the scorn and contempt it deserves. Ever since the birth of Capitalism in this planet in the eighteenth century, its’ expansion has been a history of “globalization” and competition. Further, the accumulation of capital entirely depends on the extraction of surplus value of the worker. The history of the development of capitalism over the past two centuries has therefore been a historyof competition, exploitation and globalization. The present era is no different; the difference being only in the degree of these processes.

              Instead of disarming and confusing the working people, what is required is to understand the development of the past two centuries and develop our own strategies and tactics to advance the interest of the working people.

The First Phase of Globalization:

              The process of Globalization had started way back in the fifteenth century when the King Henry the VIIth, who ruled over the British empire between 1485 to 1509, created the Royal Navy for the ostentatious purpose of protecting the maritime interests of the empire. By the end of the nineteenth century, the British Flag was fluttering over 1/4th of the world covering over 14.3.million square miles. 

              This process of capturing the foreign land during the initial phase(Starting from around 1600)led to the pre-capitalist accumulation of capital through trade, commerce and sometime plain loot and slave labor. After the establishment of capitalism in their own countries, the thirst for larger control over other countries for raw material and market became far more acute. During the second half of the 19th century, the British Empire thus expanded by more than 75%. This phase, can be called the first phase of Globalization.But during this phase, the October revolution of 1917 heralded the first working class state in Russia that gave birth to ‘Socialism’ a qualitatively different mode of production opposed to the capitalist mode of exploitation and became the biggest hurdle to the global expansion of Capitalism.

              This phase of Globalization had a very important difference with the next phase of Globalization which started with the end of the second world war and the signing of the Bretten Wood agreement in the year 1941.The difference was that  the contesting imperialist powers prior to the second world war were bent upon protecting their own market within the territories occupied  by them in exclusion to all others, whereas in the second phase, the emphasis shifted to creating a world market and “free trade”!

Second Phase of Globalization:

              The second world war of course made it impossible for the old imperialist powers to continue their hegemony as in past and the war gave rise to two new developments:

1. The colonies, over which the old imperialist powers were ruling over centuries were also rising demanding political independence. The ongoing independence struggles managed to grab political freedom in certain countries under the capitalist leadership (like in India in 1947) whereas in some cases political freedom was won under the leadership of the Communist parties (like in China in 1949). This however did not over throw the yoke of capitalism but on the contrary made the ground fertile for the development of capitalism in erstwhile the colonies.

    (2) U.S. planners developed a concept of economic security—that a liberal international economic system would enhance the possibilities of postwar peace. Preparing to rebuild the international economic system, 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations gathered at the Mount Washington Hotel in in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

Setting up a system of rules, institutions, and procedures to regulate the international monetary system, the planners at Bretton Woods  established the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development  (IBRD) (now one of five institutions in the World Bank Group) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These organizations became operational in 1946 after a sufficient number of countries had ratified the agreement.

(2)(i)  The architects of Bretton Woods had conceived of a system wherein exchange rate               stability was a prime goal.

              The only currency strong enough to meet the rising demands for international liquidity was the US dollar. The strength of the US economy, the fixed relationship of the dollar to gold ($35 an ounce), and the commitment of the U.S. government to convert dollars into gold at that price               made the dollar as good as gold.

What emerged was the "pegged rate" currency regime. Members were required to establish a parity of their national currencies in terms of gold (a "peg") and to maintain exchange rates within plus or minus 1% of parity (a "band") by intervening in their foreign exchange markets (that is, buying or selling dollars)

(2)(ii)  All the solemn agreements between thecapitalist nations however did not and  could not buid up a stable regime. Factors like the cold war, Vietnam war, the oil crisis, the massive trade deficit of US led to the collapse of the Bretten Woodsystem. In February 1973 the Bretton Woods currency exchange  markets closed, after a last-gasp devaluation of the dollar to  $44/ounce, and reopened in March in a floating currency regime.

Third Phase of Globalization:

              No amount of solemn agreements can resolve the true predatory nature of the Capitalist system. Post Bretton Wood also saw several attempts to put the house in Order including the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) but Capitalism can only go from one crisis to another. The talk of no War, democracy, development etc has to be really seen through the objectives of the Capitalist. Soviet Union in the post 2nd World War period posed as the major hurdle in the way of “Globalization” andthe collapse of the Soviet Union around 1991 was heralded as the final end to all hurdles in the path of the global expansion of the Capitalist system. The age of “free market” had started. Thus began the third phase of Globalization.

              In this phase, the Globalization had to be accompanied by liberalization and privatization in order to correct the “socialist distortions” of the past. The so called “socialist” sign-boards attached to public-sector industries had to be pulled down. LPGwas therefore the motto which would lead to the complete establishment of the capitalist mode of production all across the globe, hopefully without any further resistance to exploitation!

The Birth of Islamic Resistance:

              But alas, the society does not develop as per the whishes of the ruling classes. A contradiction that was developing in the battlefields of Afghanistan during the period 1979-1988, gave birth toa resistance to the American hegemony from an unusual quarter. In order to defeat the Russians who had occupied Afghanistan in 1979, the Americans in order to establish their own control over Afghanistan and Central Asia, had egged on theAfghan fighters (Mujahids), who saw this as an Islamic holy war and put up a fierce battle against the Red Army. The war attracted passionate support from Muslims all over the world, including Osama bin Laden.  Ten years after the Russians invaded, the Afghans sent them packing in a humiliating defeat by 1988.

              Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and an ally of the Americans in their proxy war against the Russians, however turned around to resist the American hegemony and the sell out of the Saudi’s to the American interest.He started functioning from Sudan. By 1996, Al Qaeda had already targeted several American installations in the middle east. Under the pressure from US, he was expelled from the Sudan and he  was looking for a place to go . By 1996, Afghanistan which had come under the Taliban rule, welcomed him. They formed a kind of partnership.

              Al-Qaeda’s central goal is to act as a base, a kind of revolutionary vanguard, drawing as many as Muslims as possible to expand therule of radical Islam. This movement, they believe, would then drive the Americans from Muslim lands and overthrow governments like those of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (which they see as propped up by the US) and lead the way for the unification of the umma – the Islamic community which would then follow what they see as a "pure" brand of Islam.

              In September, 2001, the U.S. put pressure on the Taliban to turn overOsama bin Laden in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the twin Towers in New York. On October 7, after the Taliban refused to give up bin Laden, the U.S. began bombing Taliban military sites and aiding the Northern Alliance. By November 21, the Taliban had lost Kabul and by December 9, 2001 had been completely routed.

              An interim government was agreed upon by representatives of Afghanistan’s various factions during talks held in Bonn, Germany. On December 22, 2001, Hamid Karzai, an Afghan tribal leader, was sworn in as interim chairman of the government.

              After the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Al Qaeda activities did not come to an end. In fact, Osama bin laden was never found. The American state however panicky over the Islamic resistance to its hegemonic role in the process of globalization, is trying to convince the world that “terrorism” is the biggest enemy of the civilized world. Iraq being another centre of resistance was ruthlessly destroyed and the head of a sovereign state, President Saddam Hussein was hung in his own country by the Americans. The brutality of the American and British soldiers in Iraq would put to shame even die hard fascist leaders. In Faluja, the army used white phosphorus to kill and maim thousands of Iraqi who refused to surrender. Iran now has been identified as the next target of US.

Summing up Globalization:  

1. Globalization is essentially the spread of the capitalist mode of production all over the globe and creation of a world market  irrespective of national boundaries, destroying or undermining all hitherto modes of production existing in any part of the world.
2. Globalization would globalize oppression and exploitation and turn capitalism into the dialectical opposite of the free capitalist system of the 18th century which had promised freedom, democracy and equality. In this era of falling profits, all classes would be subordinated and subjugated to the interest of the monopoly multinationals to maximize their profits and their democratic rights would be drastically curtailed. 
3. In the era of Globalization, all democratic Institution would be systematically undermined and eliminated in the impending crisis. The Judiciary would be the first to succumb. The trade union and other legal and democratic rights of the working people would be severely curtailed.
4. Globalization would be an era of insurmountable economic crisis, war and acute violence leading to the destabilization of societies leading to large-scale death and destruction of civilians all across the globe.
5. Globalization would also be an era of revolution. Anti globalization forces will rise all over the globe and unite with the working people of the world to overthrow the rule of capital and establish a genuine secular and socialist order.

INDIA DURING THE THREE PHASES OF GLOBALISATION:

1.               In the first phase, i.e. from 1600 to 1947, the Indian subcontinent has been either under the Mogul rule or the British rule. The last hundred year of the British rule completely ruined the economic development of the country as it was used the Indian resources and labor for its own capitalist development. At the end of their rule, the Britishers left India with GDP consisting  of just about 5.8% industrial income and around 70 to 75% of agricultural income; the rest came from small scale and cottage industry. India was but a very poor under developed semi-feudal country.
2.               The second phase saw India adopting a secular democratic polity accompanied by a “mixed economic” policy, experimenting with the public sector undertakings with the help of Soviet union  to build the infra structural industries. In the domain of foreign policy, India adopted the non-aligned policy sending a confused message that it was going to chart out a path independent of the on going process of globalization.
3.               In the third phase however, starting from about 1990, alongwith the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Indian ruling classes integrated itself within the global capitalist network. Strangely, it did gain in the bargain for a peculiar reason. The all pervasive computer had brought about revolution of sorts in the division of labor had given a Midas touch to the common labor. A low investment machine that in conjunction with human labor could intensify the extraction of labor giving rise to high productivity and at the same time convert an ordinary labor into a skilled labor. The use of the computer in every possible sector increased the demand for the trained and computer skilled labor and the Indians with their good back ground in mathematics and English, did extremely well in adopting the computer. Thus started rise of the service sector with the Indian companies leading the pack. Today, we have still 25-30% income coming from the traditional industrial sector but over 62% of the income coming from the service sector; the rest come from the agricultural sector (17 to 18%).
4.               While on one hand, the IT companies started contributing to the national GDP by  1990s, the existing major players also gained from the access to the global market. Reliance, Tatas, Adanis etc enriched themselves from the new equation. But all the enrichment took place at the cost of the Indian working people.
5.               Be that as it may, the Indian economy seems to have gather some momentum and the ruling classes are losing no time to sing paeans for Globalization. A little scrutiny would show that the claim of the Indian ruling class regarding the advantage of its integration with the global capitalism is totally hollow. The Indian economy does not contribute the value addition ( except in a few sectors) but is actually helping the global players to substitute higher wage labor by the Indian lower wage labor. Outsourcing is being done to cut down the cost of production and increase the profit levels of the multinationals. The Agricultural production has infact become stagnant at the year 2000 level. What ofcourse is most disappointing is that India has inherited all the rotten qualities of globalization. To enrich the Indian monopoly Capitalist class, Special ecomomic zones, Special Investment Zones etc  have been created, where the Industrial houses are exempted labor laws and payment of taxes; where the land for such purpose is forcefully acquired at the cost of the peasantry.
6.               The worst feature of the third phase is the complete reversal of the constitutional goals of. Despite adopting the capitalist mode of production as the fundamentals in 1949, our constitution did envisage a secular, egalitarian and an equitable society. By making the equal treatment under law as a fundamental right and the Directive principles to guide the making of statutory law, the founding fathers had perhaps hoped for welfare state where the rights of the weaker sections, minorities and marginalized would be protected. But alas! Globalization trampled all such fond hopes. Instead, a violent communal politics gripped the country ever since mid-eighties.

7.               To trace the history of this violence we go back over two decades in time. A little known Babri Masjid Ramjanmabhoomi dispute was ingeniously resurrected in 1984 by the formation of the “Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi Mukti Yagna Samiti” and a 130 kilometer march was organised by VHP from Ayodhya to Lucknow in October, 1984 to voice the demand for liberating the site on which the Babri Masjid stood. The Sangh Parivar’s ‘National Thinkers Conferences’ held across the country  in 1987 and the BJP’s Palampur Resolution on Ayodhya in June 1989 finally put Ram Janma Bhoomi on the political agenda of the Sagh Parivar.

              The November,1989 general election thus saw the worst ever communal violence in which over 800 people died in the Hindi belt. V.P.Singh became the Prime Minister with the support of BJP which won 88 seats. To push its own agenda, BJP/ VHP combine first declared February 14th, 1990 as the date to begin the temple construction which was changed to 8th June and later to 30th October, 1990. As a last ditch effort to keep away the other back ward classes from uniting  with the upper caste BJP, V P Singh introduced the “Mandal Bill” in the loksabha on 7th August, 1990. That’s is when the LK Advani hit back with his Ram card, his Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya that legitimizedthe adoption of communal politics..

              The arrest of Advani in Bihar on 23rd October, 1990 and the collapse of the V P Singh Government on 9th November, 1990, forever altered the course of Indian politics. The demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6th December, 1992 became the first major act of terrorism that terrorized the entire minority community but instead of being tried under TADA or POTA, Advani became the Home Minister!

              TThe repeated instances of communal violence and the hate campaign against the Muslims unleashed by the Sangh Parivar,laid the foundation of thereafter on one hand created the bogey of “Islamic terrorism in India” and on the other hand laid the foundation of creating violent underground groups like “Abhinav Bharat” led by pseudo religious figures like Dayanand Pandeys  supported by the over ground political parties like BJP and social and religious organizations like VHP,RSS, Hindu Jan Jagaran Samiti etc. 

              In reaction to the repeated instances of communal riots that broke out after the Rath Yatra of Advani onwards and more particularly the Mumbai riots after the demolition of the Babri Masjid wherein scores of innocent Muslims were killed, the underworld of Mumbai triggered the horrendous serial bomb blasts that killed over two hundred innocent citizens of Mumbai. The 1993 serial blast marked the turning point of the use of organisedorganized violence by any Muslim group in India. Till 1993, even the “terrorist violence” from across the borders did not spill outside the boundaries of Jammu Kashmir and the use of ‘terrorist violence’ by any Muslim group in India was unheard of.

Summing up Globalization:  

6. Globalization is essentially the spread of the capitalist mode of production all over the globe and creation of a world market  irrespective of national boundaries, destroying or undermining all hitherto modes of production existing in any part of the world.
7. Globalization would globalize oppression and exploitation and turn capitalism into the dialectical opposite of the free capitalist system of the 18th century which had promised freedom, democracy and equality. In this era of falling profits, all classes would be subordinated and subjugated to the interest of the monopoly multinationals to maximize their profits and their democratic rights would be drastically curtailed. 
8. In the era of Globalization, all democratic Institution would be systematically undermined and eliminated in the impending crisis. The Judiciary would be the first to succumb. The trade union and other legal and democratic rights of the working people would be severely curtailed.
9. Globalization would be an era of insurmountable economic crisis, war and acute violence leading to the destabilization of societies leading to large-scale death and destruction of civilians all across the globe.
10. In the domestic sphere, Globalisation has encouraged the adoption of divisive politics of all types and more particularly the spread of communal politics destroying the secular goals of the constitution. The caste and communal contradictions have rendered the class contradiction into secondary position. The American slogan of the “War against Terrorism” thus finds its echo in the anti-Muslim campaign of the Hindutva forces in India.
11. Globalization would also be an era of revolution. Anti globalization forces will rise all over the globe and unite with the working people of the world to overthrow the rule of capital and establish a genuine secular and socialist order.

The Strategies of the Global Capital in India:

8.               Instead, Globalization is now shaping a new legal order that can maximize the extraction of surplus. The most efficient method to extract the maximum surplus out of the labor is to make his/her employment itself insecure. An unsecured labor is best created either as a contract worker or a temporary hand or  whereor where his services can be terminated at the will of the employer without any legal protection. All legal pronouncements that give legal rights to such workmen to become direct and  permanent was therefore required to be done away with in the era of Globalisation. Some examples follow:

(i)              The 3 bench Judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Airport               authority giving right to the contract worker to become a direct                             workman in case of abolition of the contract labor system was thus               reversed in 2002 by another bench of five Judges in the Steel Authority               of India’s case.

                (ii)              Similarly, the series of Judgments of the SC ending with the Pyara Singhs  case (1995) giving right of permanency to the daily wage workers who had completed 240 days was reversed by a larger bench in 2006 in the case of  Secretary State of Karnataka V/s  State of Karnataka reported 1n  2006 AIR SCW  1991

3. As a Welfare State, the Indian Parliament had enacted the Minimum Wages Act guaranteeing the payment of the minimum wages to the workmen. In the cases of  PUDR vs UOI and Raptakos, the Supreme Court in 1980/ 1990s had held that non payment of minimum wages would amount to “Forced Labour”  prohibited by Art.23 of our Constitution and in case an Industry did not pay minimum wages, it ought to close down! In 2006, the same Supreme Court in the Umadevi’s case has glossed over the non-payment of minimum wages by observing that such a payment was accepted by the workmen with open eyes!

          (iv)The Industrial Disputes Act was created to adjudicate on the disputes between labour and employer and for that purpose wide powers were given to the labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals to grant relief to then workmen. In case of wrongful termination or punitive discharge, the labour courts could reinstate the employee with full back wages.

                (v)              Till around 2005, the above was the settled law by the Supreme Court. Globalization however changed all that.  The SC judgments since 2005 (U.P. State Brassware Corp. Ltd V/s Udai Narain Panday ,2005 AIR SCW  6314)  have discontinued the payment of full back wages even though the termination could be wholly illegal. Minor misconduct can now be visited with the extreme punishment of dismissal. Violation of 25F would no longer make a termination automatically void. Prejudice have to be established!

             (vi)              Ban all forms of struggle and strikes. Introduce the hire and fire rule. Destroy the trade unions and make it it difficult for the workers to organize trade union by introducing difficult conditions for registration.

     2.                            Make all national boundaries irrelevant for the purpose of investment ofCapital and trading of commodities. Free trade as dictated by the terms decided by W.T.O. and G.A.T.T. to prevail over all national laws.

9. 3.                            Destroy the secular basis of the constitution and institutionalize divisive and communal politics, thus substituting the communal contradiction in place of the class contradiction.The RamJanma Bhumi movement and the destruction of the Babri Masjid led to the deep communal division of the country.The death of 59 karsevaks in the Godhra train burning incident on 27th February 2002, was blamed on the Muslim community and the entire community was painted as supporters of “Islamic terrorism”. Using this tragic event, hundreds of innocent Muslims were butchered by the organizedgoons of the Sangh Parivar in connivance with the Government of Gujarat led by BJP; the communal contradictions assumed new dimensions resulting in perhaps irreversiblepolarization of the society and complete denial of legal justice to the minorities.
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11. 3.                            Make the slogan of “War against Terrorism” the primary slogan across the globe and divert all struggles against the elusive “Terrorist”. Link this slogan with the anti-muslim prejudices in all non Islamiccountries having Muslims as minorities.The Hindutva forces as well as the UPA grabbed this opportunity to align with the Americans in this endeavor.
12. 4.                            Create the SEZs and SIRs as the back yards for the manufacturing activitiesof the global players including the domestic monopoly capitalists. By exempting such players from payment of taxes, the peoples money is converted into private capital and  from exempting the manufacturers from the labor laws, the profit levels are jacked up to maintain the profits in the era of falling profits. Over and above these factors, the land of the peasants are being cheaply and forcefully acquired for SEZs!
13. 5.                            In the agricultural sphere, by depressing the price of the agricultural produce to reduce the price of labor power, the peasantry is severely squeezed. On the other hand by increasing the cost of inputs, the net transfer of surplus is always tilted towards the industry.
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15. Immediate Tasks of Trade Unions and Working Class:
16.               Under these circumstances what should be tasks of the working class and the trade Unions? As the vanguard class, the workers cannot remain aloof and allow the global capital to devastate the people and ruin their life and liberty. One of the immediate tasks of the working class should be to unite the working people belonging to the different communities and lead the struggle against the communalizationof the Indian politics. In every struggle, whether in the economic front or otherwise, the communal and divisive natureof the ruling class tactics must be exposed and fought.The specifictasks can be enumerated as follows:
17. To build up a national level federation of the trade unions of the country  to unite the different streams of struggles into a nation-wide campaign for the defense of the socio-economic and political rights of the working people.
18. To expose the violent, predatory and autocratic nature of the rule of the capital in the era of globalization.
19. To oppose all policies and proposals of the Government of exempting any Industrial house or class of Industrialists from the tax laws or labor laws either under any special economic zone or special investment regions or any such similar estates.
20. To unite with the peasantry and oppose the acquisition of land for the purpose of creation any special economic zone or corporate farming or for any purpose that leads to the deprivation of the land of the peasantry without their consent.
21. To oppose the present trend of the Indian Judiciary to lay down the law against the regularization, permanency and abolition of contract labor system and demand for enactments at both state and central levels giving statutory rights for permanency of temporary employment and prohibition of employment on contract system.
22. Demand for appropriate amendments in the ID Act, 1947 providing for the payment of full back-wages in case of illegal termination of service and limit the powers of the High Courts in interfering with awards of Industrial adjudicators or orders of reinstatementand payment of back-wages.
23. Demand for an appropriate amendment to the Minimum wages Act making the non-payment of minimum wages as cognizable offence at the instance of the worker.
24. Demand for appropriate enactments providing for the payment of unemployment allowance to the workmen rendered unemployed due to retrenchment or due tothe closure of any industrial establishment including the mills and factories closed in past.
25. Demand for appropriate enactment making the right of strike a statutory right.
26. Demand for a constitutional provision defining “Secularism” as complete exclusion of religion from any affair of the State including any election and penalty for any breach in the observance of secular governance includingthe barring of any political party or any organization from participating in any affair of the State.
27. Demand a non-aligned policy in the realm of foreign affairs.
28. Tactics and Program of the Trade Unions:
29. In pursuance of the above tasks, TUCI and all its affiliated State and local trade Unions must make every attempt to participate in political struggle to oppose the divisive and communal politics and unite with other non-working class organizations for promoting unity and harmony between the people of different communities.
30. To organize, direct and lead a nation-wide campaign against the anti-worker pronouncements of the Indian Judiciary and for that purpose organizenationwide agitation.
31. To organize, direct and lead a nation-wide campaign against SEZ or any proposal that exempts the industrial houses from any tax law or labor law or grants special benefits or loans from public funds and demand thye repeal of the Securitization Act.
32. To organize, direct and lead a nation-wide campaign for the enactments providing for statutory right of permanency, back-wages, unemployment allowances for retrenchment or closures, prohibition against contract labor employment and for making non-payment of minimum wages as a cognizable offence at the instance of the worker.

To observe May Day as a day against the Global Capital in all parts of the country.