Double Role

This has mainly to do with many trade union leaders enjoying parliamentary prominence in various capacities while retaining their posts as leaders of labour bodies. As a result there is a curious mix of roles, at times an exasperating experience. For one, political activists for whom trade unionism was itself a political career are now entering Parliament as representatives of larger constituencies, not workers8217; groups. Secondly, many of these leaders are members, even heads, of Parliamentary panels that are expected to consider issues in the larger national perspective, not through the prism of trade unions.

Consider these Left political leaders with trade union associations.

AB Bardhan, CPI general secretary, is the president of the All-India Federation of Electricity Employees
Basudeb Acharia, leader of the CPIM in the Lok Sabha, is a member of CITU, the party8217;s labour wing. He is also Chairman of Parliament8217;s Standing Committee on Railways. The CITU has a considerable presence among railway employees
Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI Lok Sabha member, is the General Secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, the trade union wing of his party, which has a considerable hold on sectors like banking.
S. Sudhakar Reddy, CPI Lok Sabha member, is Chairman of the Standing Committee on Labour. He champions the cause of agriculture workers.
CPIM MPs in the Lok Sabha like AV Bellarmin Nagercoil, Sujan Chakraborty Jadavpur, Alakesh Das Nabadwip, Amitava Nandy Dum Dum, and CPI MPs like K Subbarayan Coimbatore and M Appadurai, Tenkasi together head 20 unions at the state and district levels.
CPIM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury is the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture
MK Pandhe, CPIM MP, is President of CITU.

With this interlinking of roles, what these trade unionist-MPs have been able to do is to approach the highest authorities for negotiation when there8217;s a clash of interests between the Left and UPA without having to resort to ugly street protests. The instances when the Red bigshots have intervened to bring about a resolution to disputes are numerous.

Airport employees8217; strike
The Airport Authority of India AAI employees8217; strike against the privatisation of Mumbai and Delhi airports gained moment once the big players8212;Pandhe, Dasgupta and Yechury8212;came into the picture. Though MK Ghosal was convener of the AAI Employees8217; Joint Forum, he had no reason to complain. The high-profile participation of the Left top rankers ensured a written assurance from the Government four days8217; into the strike. The trio became the most visible faces of the strike against privatisation and the Indian Airlines-Air-India merger. Pandhe and Dasgupta protested as trade union leaders and Yechury was a participant as the Chairman of the Parliament Standing Committee on Transport. The Left8217;s bargaining power was such that Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had to visit the headquarters of both the communist parties in an effort to convince the leaders about the Government stand on the issue.

Electricity privatisation
Bardhan has often enough lashed out against the privatisation of the perennially problem-ridden electricity utilities. Disdainful of the entry of discoms power distribution companies into the picture, he has described the process of privatisation as a 8220;complete failure8221;. 8220;The Government must take the last step, call off their bluff, annul the privatisation agreement and restore the Delhi Vidyut Board, while also reforming its functioning,8221; he recently said in New Delhi, both in his capacity as a trade union leader as well as CPI general secretary. The distribution and selling of power has been taken over from the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board by private players like Reliance and Tatas in the capital.

Postal employees8217; agitation
The Joint Action Council of the recognised postal employees organisations, affiliated to the National Federation of Postal Employees and the Federation of National Postal Organisations, has decided on an indefinite strike from April 24 to press its demands. But it was not K. Raghavendran, national working president of the All-India Postal Employees Union, who was in the limelight when the agitation was announced. It was Yechury and the CPIM leadership who took up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Yechury wrote a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his personal intervention. He pointed out that the postal employees had asked the Government to set up a judicial commission to go into the wages and service conditions of the gramin dak sewaks village postal employees. They had also asked for official recognition of the the National Federation of Postal Employees as a union. Yechury reiterated his party8217;s reservations about the Government8217;s decision to hand over selected post offices in urban areas to private parties to run on a franchise basis. Later a CPIM delegation comprising Prakash Karat, S Ramachandran Pillai and Brinda Karat again broached the subject with Manmohan when they met him for another matter.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation employees8217; strike
The NLC employees numbering over 20,000 were up against the Centre8217;s decision to disinvest 10 per cent of equity. As the standoff continued, UPA partner DMK threatened to pull out of the coalition. However, sources said the DMK and the Marxists worked together on this issue. There were talks between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and CPIM General Secretary Prakash Karat as well as between Union Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran and Yechury. While the DMK opposed the offloading of NLC shares by the Government, the CPIM took a strong stand against the Centre disinvesting in both Nalco and NLC. The Politburo issued a statement saying the move was 8220;uncalled for8221; and asked government to stop the process. The Government had to accede and put the disinvestment plans on hold.

Other labour issues that the various MPs and Left leaders have taken up include the demands of the All India Fair Price Shop Dealers8217; Federation. While Acharia has been lending the body strong support, Yechury led a delegation of ration-shop owners to meet the Prime Minister. Over issues like the Banking Bill and the Pension Bill too, it is the Left leaders like Pandhe and Dasgupta who voice the shrillest protests.

There may appear to be a contradiction in the champions of labour rights supporting a government whose very policies are geared towards making the economy more competitive, even if it might occasionally impinge on workers8217; rights. But the trade union leaders see no conflict in this. In many way, the Left parties, the Marxists more so, have every reason to take up such causes. The communists have thrived on the mass support for their trade unions for decades, and now as the numbers dwindle, the parties are keen to check the slide. The political organisation report adopted at the 18th Congress of the CPIM in New Delhi in 2005 noted that trade unions grew only by 4.2 per cent in the previous year, a poor performance given that its farmer8217;s organisation grew at 17 per cent and youth wing at 20 per cent.

8220;With the public sector shrinking and sectors and banking and insurance opened up, the trade union base of the party has been affected,8221; explains a senior CPIM leader. 8220;And the party now has to address their concerns and problems at all levels. We can8217;t leave the matter to the trade unions at the local level. After all, higher the stature of the negotiator, better the results are.8221;

In fact, these leaders say the melding of roles as supporters of the government and protector of labour rights augurs well for the unions. 8220;There is no clash of interest here,8221; says Pandhe, citing the example of Acharia. 8220;Though he is the Standing Committee Chairman on Railways, Acharia spoke vehemently against the privatisation of the Railways and other anti-worker policies of the Government. And Sitaram Yechury, the Standing Committee Chairman on Transport, is defending the rights of the airport employees.8221;

Adds Dipankar Mukherjee, CITU leader and former Rajya Sabha member: 8220;The Left movements always spoke up for the farmers and workers. Whether in Parliament or outside, the Left leaders will do the same and it doesn8217;t mean that the trade union movement has undergone any change in its approach.8221;

A section in the Left, however, sees a negative side to trade union leaders becoming parliamentarians. 8220;As an MP, one has to take the interests of all the sections in the constituency. So naturally his focus on trade union is bound to diminish,8221; say one leader. The red stalwarts surely know this.