Thursday, January 21, 2010
FAILURE OF TRADE UNIONS IN KERALA
Trade union movement in Kerala has resulted in shutting down many private enterprises. They failed to achieve their objectives of ensuring safe working conditions and better wages. Rather they were succesful in losing the jobs of the workers. Is it because the trade unions were merely concerned about wages and began thinking like capitalists? I would say that it was also due to the failure on part of the employers to recognise the workers as part of their enterprises, delay in settling the issues and the politics played by the leaders.
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5 comments:
failure of the trade unions reflects the effects of the self interests of many of them who were involved in it.Influential people in the society often make use of the common man by bringing them together as a group to gain their own self interests. This could bring about a fear factor in the minds of the common man and hence reducing the chances for further cooperation even for a right reason.
According to me, fight between trade unions and owners is just as fierce a fight as a fight between socialists and capitalists. The outcome is that only one of them wins. Trade unions ideally fight for the rights of workers. Workers also need some way to express their grievances, or they will suffer atrocities of their owners. Thus strikes etc. is a fight for justice for them. The risk is losing job and the prize is good working condition.
Trade unions try to put a notion among workers that employers are employee's enemy and are trying to exploit them. This has severely hindered the bond formation between the employees and employers. The employee don't think that the work done by them for employer is mutually beneficial. In the end without these two working in tandem both of them can't gain.
One of the main reasons of the closure of private firms in Kerala was the extreme level of politicization of the union activities. Trade unions in the state have never been independent, but were workmen wings of major political parties.There are many instances of these parties using trade unions to further their political interests, with scant regard for the worker's welfare.
Sanju, 30038
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