BLOWN OUT: The strike by officers of 13 public sector oil companies held the entire country to ransom (Pic by Bivash Banerjee)

The truckers’ strike ran parallel to the oil agitation with transporters demanding cheaper diesel and tyres, and an end to octroi and other taxes. By the time the strike ended on the eighth day, food and commodity prices nationwide were spiralling and the government was forced to threaten mass cancellation of motor licences.

There are some pointers in these disruptive tactics. The placid industrial relations created by the prosperity of a spanking 9-10 per cent GDP growth story seems to be turning. Labour militancy has been steadily on the decline over the past decade. In 2000, 28.8 million mandays were lost due to strikes and lockouts. By 2006, this had fallen to 20.3 million; and in 2007, it petered down to just one-fourth or 5.6 million.

Now, the slowdown has added fresh recruits to the band of protestors. Television and cine workers in Mumbai brought studio production to a grinding halt last November. Wipro’s consumer care unit in Bangalore went on a lightning strike in October; and in September, workers of Noida-based Graziano Trasmissioni bludgeoned their CEO to death, following a mass dismissal order.

“Militancy is on the rise,” says Franklin D’Souza, coordinator for the India chapter of the International Union of Foodworkers. “Four units of Nestle in Punjab and Goa with 4,300 workers are going on strike on 19 January. They have no record of protest since 1960.”

According to Vivek Monteiro, secretary of the Maharashtra chapter of Centre of Indian Trade Unions, there is widespread discontent against wage cuts and job losses. “These could lead to some wildcat action, but the general environment is not pro-strike yet. The mood is to put pressure on employers to stem the tide,” says Monteiro, who in fact keeps a calendar of all-India protests.

The popular notion is that such trade union activism is expected around elections, to put policy pressure on the government. But this election year, the far deeper grassroot discontent created by the worsening recession is difficult to miss. It could develop into widespread spontaneous protest and even violent action as seen during the mass sacking at Jet Airways.

An interesting sidelight is the more militant approach of the relatively well-off sections. The Oil Sectors Officers’ Association was peeved at a wage hike that turned out to be just 17 per cent against the government claim of 55 to 150 per cent. The main strike demand was a 32 per cent hike; and these well-heeled officials were angry enough to brave arrests and dismissals.

So, protests can be expected from groups such as airline and IT employees and workers in multinational companies who are angry with the sudden withdrawal of privileges, and who have the economic cushion to take on a showdown. The more desperate — contract workers, construction employees and daily wage labourers threatened with losing their jobs altogether — are unlikely to take to the streets just yet.

gurbir dot singh at abp dot in

(Businessworld Issue 20-26 Jan 2009)