"The worker becomes poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and extent. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he produces. The devaluation of the human world grows in direct proportion to the increase in value of the world of things".-Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, 1844.
On May Day, we commemorate not only the achievements of the workers movement but also its many struggles and sacrifices. The facts are well known: In 1886, the police fired on demonstrators in Hay market square where workers had gathered during a general strike raising the demand for an eight-hour work day. The first Congress of the Second International meeting decided to mark this day with international demonstrations and protests. So widespread was the responses to this call that ever since Ist May i.e. May Day has been recognized as the International Workers' Day.
Resistance is met with repression. This is nowhere more evident than in the Special Economic Zones mushrooming across the country which have become the nightmares where labour regulations do not employ. The state has long forgotten its responsibility towards the rights of workers.
The Way Forward
The current financial crises have hit hardest on the working class. Yet governments seem more concerned at providing sops to flagging corporates. As the neoliberal ideology continues to rear its head, we need to reassert the importance of May Day in the history of the workers struggle. To do so would be to jar memory, to shake the establishment from its platitudes, to reassert the international spirit of the movement, uniting workers everywhere. As we know, this is a process beset by difficulties.
THE WORKER'S UNITED WILL ALWAYS BE VICTORIOUS
On May Day, we commemorate not only the achievements of the workers movement but also its many struggles and sacrifices. The facts are well known: In 1886, the police fired on demonstrators in Hay market square where workers had gathered during a general strike raising the demand for an eight-hour work day. The first Congress of the Second International meeting decided to mark this day with international demonstrations and protests. So widespread was the responses to this call that ever since Ist May i.e. May Day has been recognized as the International Workers' Day.
Relevance in India
In the face of this historical legacy, is the silence that pervades the ruling establishment on the occasion of this day. This is particularly the case in India where we have been following a policy that emphasizes development at the costs of people's rights. The new age cities that are developing around us bear the neo-liberal impress of further marginalizing the poor from our gleaming cities. Away from the cities, the narratives are those of displacement: of workers faced with unemployment, tribal’s evicted from their lands, farmers struggling with debt and confronting the prospect of suicide.Resistance is met with repression. This is nowhere more evident than in the Special Economic Zones mushrooming across the country which have become the nightmares where labour regulations do not employ. The state has long forgotten its responsibility towards the rights of workers.
The Way Forward
THE WORKER'S UNITED WILL ALWAYS BE VICTORIOUS
No comments:
Post a Comment