The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) is the trade union affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), just as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the Sangh’s political arm. BMS Organising Secretary Pawan Kumar tells Archis Mohan that the trade union has adopted a policy of “responsive co-operation” with the BJP-led government at the Centre. He says BMS, along with other trade unions, will fight the new government’s policies if it were to act against worker interests. Edited excerpts:
What are the expectations of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh from the new government?
All the central trade unions met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on June 6 as part of his pre-Budget consultations with all the stakeholders. We put up in front of him all the big questions facing the workers of this country. We demanded the government to take steps to check price rise, give a guarantee to increase minimum wage to Rs 15,000, income tax limit be raised to Rs 5 lakh, and so on. We have asked that people employed in government schemes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan be declared government employees and they be assured a minimum wage. We raised the issue of job security, wage security and social security of workers. We demanded the government should take steps like abolishing the contract system, increase minimum wages, reform the Provident Fund ceiling and guarantee a minimum pension of Rs 3,000. Minimum pension isn't merely a demand of trade unions. The Bhagat Singh Koshyari-headed petitions committee of the Rajya Sabha had also recommended this six months back.
We hope the government pays heed to our demand to regularise Aanganwadi workers. The project was started in 1975 , that is 39 years back. It engages 3.6 million workers, which provide nutrition to crores of children. My question is how long will this "project" run? Why can't these workers be treated as government servants?
We have also told the finance minister that the trade union movement is against disinvestment of public sector. We will not allow foreign direct investment (FDI), FDI nahin chalegi (FDI is a no go), in any and all the sectors, whether in retail, insurance, banking, railway media, education, and so on.
We have apprised the finance minister of all of these demands. We appreciated that he holds pre-Budget consultations. We also asked him to hold a post-Budget meeting with us, so that we can take stock of all that he accomplished in his Budget and all that he couldn't, while he can tell us the rationale behind why some steps had to be taken and some couldn't be taken.
Will the BMS be as combative in its approach to a BJP government?
I don't want to comment on a government or party. All political parties have been part of or have supported one government or another in the last 20 years. Whatever the stand of particular political parties might have been on specific issues, the government's stand has remained constant on these issues in the last 20 to 25 years.
As far as BMS is concerned, we are for "responsive co-operation". This means that we will watch whether the government is for the workers and poor, or acts against these sections of the society. If the government co-operates with the workers and the poor, then these sections will also co-operate with the government. Else, they will be forced to oppose the government. We can assure the workers of this country that we have been a watchdog of their interests in the past and we will continue to play that role. We will adopt a wait-and-watch policy to watch the intent of this government and act accordingly.
The BJP's Rajasthan government has decided to carry out labour reforms. What is the BMS' stand of the amendment to labour laws that the Vasundhara Raje Scindia government has proposed?
The Rajasthan government has blundered (in proposing these amendments). We cannot accept these reforms for a single minute. This step of the Rajasthan government is anti-worker and anti-poor.
We oppose these amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act, where a firm is not required to seek government permission to retrench up to 300 employees, increase from 15 per cent to 30 per cent the number of workers needed for registration as a representative, and raising the applicability of the Contract Labour Act on companies of more than 50 workers from the current 20 workers, and in the Factories Act amendment where it is currently applicable to premises with more than 10 workers with power and 20 without power to 20 and 40, respectively.
Yeh tamasha chalne nahin diya jayega (this drama will not be allowed). A couple of days back, all the trade unions decided to oppose this. On June 25, all trade unions will gather at Jaipur to protest the Rajasthan government's move to make its transport service and bus stations into an undertaking. We believe this is the first step towards privatisation. We will oppose this and on the same day decide on our plans for joint action to protest the move to amend labour laws.
What will be this joint action?
It can be anything, we might go to any extent. We will not tolerate or accept anti-worker policies. We will compel the Rajasthan government to roll back its decision. Jis bhasha mein samjhegi, us bhasha mein samjhayenge (We will talk to the Rajasthan government in whatever language it understands).
Do you think the trade union movement has weakened in the last few decades?
The trade union movement has witnessed fewer agitations from 1990 to 2010 that might have contributed to this perception. But there are several joint movements that are going on across India even as we speak. BMS membership has increased manifold. According to government statistics, our membership, according to the 1989 base year, was 3.1 million. This increased to 6.3 million in the 2002 base year. The government is currently tabulating trade union membership with 2011 as base year. BMS estimates suggest that our membership has increased to 17.1 million. How can anyone claim that trade union movement has weakened? It is true that organised sector workers have come down from eight per cent in 1990 to six per cent now, but the unorganised sector has increased. We have strengthened our organisation in the unorganised sector, where the form and nature of agitation is different from the usual strikes and picketing.
The BJP has said it may tweak some of the United Progressive Alliance's social welfare schemes, like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). What is your take on this?
The NREGA was hardly an employment guarantee scheme. Only eight per cent workers got 100 days of guaranteed work, only 26 per cent received employment of 15 days or less. The budgetary allocation kept reducing as were the number of man days.
MGNREGA did much damage to peasants. We demand that the number of days be increased from 100 to 200 days. We also demand that NREGA work be linked to agricultural work. We want that NREGA be stopped during the harvest season and other important agricultural tasks, so that farmers can get workers.
Do you think the BJP-led NDA government is pro-industry?
I believe I am also pro-industry. The BMS commits itself to industry, to the nation and to labour. It is only when our industry thrives that labour can find work. How else will people get employment? At BMS, we believe in national commitment towards not just the two partners, employer and employee, but also the third partner - the customer. It is our duty to watch the interest of this silent partner. We may be employers or employees at one place, but all of us are customers.
What are the expectations of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh from the new government?
All the central trade unions met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on June 6 as part of his pre-Budget consultations with all the stakeholders. We put up in front of him all the big questions facing the workers of this country. We demanded the government to take steps to check price rise, give a guarantee to increase minimum wage to Rs 15,000, income tax limit be raised to Rs 5 lakh, and so on. We have asked that people employed in government schemes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan be declared government employees and they be assured a minimum wage. We raised the issue of job security, wage security and social security of workers. We demanded the government should take steps like abolishing the contract system, increase minimum wages, reform the Provident Fund ceiling and guarantee a minimum pension of Rs 3,000. Minimum pension isn't merely a demand of trade unions. The Bhagat Singh Koshyari-headed petitions committee of the Rajya Sabha had also recommended this six months back.
We hope the government pays heed to our demand to regularise Aanganwadi workers. The project was started in 1975 , that is 39 years back. It engages 3.6 million workers, which provide nutrition to crores of children. My question is how long will this "project" run? Why can't these workers be treated as government servants?
We have also told the finance minister that the trade union movement is against disinvestment of public sector. We will not allow foreign direct investment (FDI), FDI nahin chalegi (FDI is a no go), in any and all the sectors, whether in retail, insurance, banking, railway media, education, and so on.
We have apprised the finance minister of all of these demands. We appreciated that he holds pre-Budget consultations. We also asked him to hold a post-Budget meeting with us, so that we can take stock of all that he accomplished in his Budget and all that he couldn't, while he can tell us the rationale behind why some steps had to be taken and some couldn't be taken.
Will the BMS be as combative in its approach to a BJP government?
I don't want to comment on a government or party. All political parties have been part of or have supported one government or another in the last 20 years. Whatever the stand of particular political parties might have been on specific issues, the government's stand has remained constant on these issues in the last 20 to 25 years.
As far as BMS is concerned, we are for "responsive co-operation". This means that we will watch whether the government is for the workers and poor, or acts against these sections of the society. If the government co-operates with the workers and the poor, then these sections will also co-operate with the government. Else, they will be forced to oppose the government. We can assure the workers of this country that we have been a watchdog of their interests in the past and we will continue to play that role. We will adopt a wait-and-watch policy to watch the intent of this government and act accordingly.
The BJP's Rajasthan government has decided to carry out labour reforms. What is the BMS' stand of the amendment to labour laws that the Vasundhara Raje Scindia government has proposed?
The Rajasthan government has blundered (in proposing these amendments). We cannot accept these reforms for a single minute. This step of the Rajasthan government is anti-worker and anti-poor.
We oppose these amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act, where a firm is not required to seek government permission to retrench up to 300 employees, increase from 15 per cent to 30 per cent the number of workers needed for registration as a representative, and raising the applicability of the Contract Labour Act on companies of more than 50 workers from the current 20 workers, and in the Factories Act amendment where it is currently applicable to premises with more than 10 workers with power and 20 without power to 20 and 40, respectively.
Yeh tamasha chalne nahin diya jayega (this drama will not be allowed). A couple of days back, all the trade unions decided to oppose this. On June 25, all trade unions will gather at Jaipur to protest the Rajasthan government's move to make its transport service and bus stations into an undertaking. We believe this is the first step towards privatisation. We will oppose this and on the same day decide on our plans for joint action to protest the move to amend labour laws.
What will be this joint action?
It can be anything, we might go to any extent. We will not tolerate or accept anti-worker policies. We will compel the Rajasthan government to roll back its decision. Jis bhasha mein samjhegi, us bhasha mein samjhayenge (We will talk to the Rajasthan government in whatever language it understands).
Do you think the trade union movement has weakened in the last few decades?
The trade union movement has witnessed fewer agitations from 1990 to 2010 that might have contributed to this perception. But there are several joint movements that are going on across India even as we speak. BMS membership has increased manifold. According to government statistics, our membership, according to the 1989 base year, was 3.1 million. This increased to 6.3 million in the 2002 base year. The government is currently tabulating trade union membership with 2011 as base year. BMS estimates suggest that our membership has increased to 17.1 million. How can anyone claim that trade union movement has weakened? It is true that organised sector workers have come down from eight per cent in 1990 to six per cent now, but the unorganised sector has increased. We have strengthened our organisation in the unorganised sector, where the form and nature of agitation is different from the usual strikes and picketing.
The BJP has said it may tweak some of the United Progressive Alliance's social welfare schemes, like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). What is your take on this?
The NREGA was hardly an employment guarantee scheme. Only eight per cent workers got 100 days of guaranteed work, only 26 per cent received employment of 15 days or less. The budgetary allocation kept reducing as were the number of man days.
MGNREGA did much damage to peasants. We demand that the number of days be increased from 100 to 200 days. We also demand that NREGA work be linked to agricultural work. We want that NREGA be stopped during the harvest season and other important agricultural tasks, so that farmers can get workers.
Do you think the BJP-led NDA government is pro-industry?
I believe I am also pro-industry. The BMS commits itself to industry, to the nation and to labour. It is only when our industry thrives that labour can find work. How else will people get employment? At BMS, we believe in national commitment towards not just the two partners, employer and employee, but also the third partner - the customer. It is our duty to watch the interest of this silent partner. We may be employers or employees at one place, but all of us are customers.