Le Socialiste
23rd March 2011, 23:37
I'm rather new to the situation in India. The main thing I always hear about this often pertains to the Naxalite struggle and the "Red Belt", however I've noticed that there has been an increasingly defiant and militant attitude rising up amongst the workers - especially in the manufacturing sectors. Again, I was previously unaware of the mood amongst many Indian workers, so hearing about the growing level of strikes ("legal" or not), militancy, and suspicion of the official trade union federation (which only seeks to stifle any potentially destabilizing dissent while posing as a defender of the workers' interests) has been of great interest to me.
Given all this, what can we expect in the years to come? The Naxalites are engaged in armed conflict with the Indian state, rural areas/districts appear to be increasingly sympathetic and supportive of the movement, and workers in the industrial/manufacturing sectors are growing in their militancy and understanding of class struggle. Is there the potential for a serious overthrow of the current government?
"GM India workers launch wildcat strike in Gujarat"
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/gmin-m23.shtml
Over the last several years India has experienced explosive workers struggles as more and more transnational corporations set up production units to exploit India’s cheap labor rates. Indian auto workers are typically paid about a tenth of their counterparts in the US. Strikes against these transnational corporations are widespread.
According to the Indian Labor Bureau, over five million working days were lost in 2010 as a result of strikes and lockouts in the country. The most intense strikes occurred in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh; in the eastern state of West Bengal; Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan located in the north; and in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south.
Particularly noteworthy is the amount of strike activity in West Bengal, which is ruled by the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPM-led “Left-front” alliance. There were over a million man-days of production lost due to strikes last year. This was second only to Andhra Pradesh where 2.2 million man-days were lost.
Strikes in India are watched with particular trepidation by the business media, including the Wall Street Journal, since India has become an important source for auto parts for many US auto companies. A militant month-long strike by 2000 workers at Rico Auto Parts plant near New Delhi in late 2009 forced the closure of Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada and the GM Lansing Township Plant in Michigan for a week.
Just as their western counterparts, the various Indian trade union federations such as the Stalinist Center for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which has a particularly large presence in manufacturing industries, have repeatedly betrayed strikes by dissipating determined struggles and accepting management-dictated compromises.
Nevertheless, several of the most militant strikes over the last several years, just like the current one, have occurred as a result of the independent and spontaneous actions of the workers themselves. It can be expected that such actions will only increase in the coming years given the brutal exploitation of the Indian workers by Chinese, US, Japanese and South Korean conglomerates that have now set up numerous manufacturing plants in India.
Given all this, what can we expect in the years to come? The Naxalites are engaged in armed conflict with the Indian state, rural areas/districts appear to be increasingly sympathetic and supportive of the movement, and workers in the industrial/manufacturing sectors are growing in their militancy and understanding of class struggle. Is there the potential for a serious overthrow of the current government?
"GM India workers launch wildcat strike in Gujarat"
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/gmin-m23.shtml
Over the last several years India has experienced explosive workers struggles as more and more transnational corporations set up production units to exploit India’s cheap labor rates. Indian auto workers are typically paid about a tenth of their counterparts in the US. Strikes against these transnational corporations are widespread.
According to the Indian Labor Bureau, over five million working days were lost in 2010 as a result of strikes and lockouts in the country. The most intense strikes occurred in the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh; in the eastern state of West Bengal; Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan located in the north; and in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south.
Particularly noteworthy is the amount of strike activity in West Bengal, which is ruled by the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPM-led “Left-front” alliance. There were over a million man-days of production lost due to strikes last year. This was second only to Andhra Pradesh where 2.2 million man-days were lost.
Strikes in India are watched with particular trepidation by the business media, including the Wall Street Journal, since India has become an important source for auto parts for many US auto companies. A militant month-long strike by 2000 workers at Rico Auto Parts plant near New Delhi in late 2009 forced the closure of Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada and the GM Lansing Township Plant in Michigan for a week.
Just as their western counterparts, the various Indian trade union federations such as the Stalinist Center for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which has a particularly large presence in manufacturing industries, have repeatedly betrayed strikes by dissipating determined struggles and accepting management-dictated compromises.
Nevertheless, several of the most militant strikes over the last several years, just like the current one, have occurred as a result of the independent and spontaneous actions of the workers themselves. It can be expected that such actions will only increase in the coming years given the brutal exploitation of the Indian workers by Chinese, US, Japanese and South Korean conglomerates that have now set up numerous manufacturing plants in India.