Kochi: The 24 hour called by the Left Unions and others against the BJP-led central government’s “anti-labour” policies turned out to be ‘anti people’ as thousands of families were deprived of their livelihood in Kerala on Wednesday.
While the strike did not make any impact in other parts of the country, it made it miserable in God’s own country.
The Left and other trade unions charges against Central privatisation policies as anti labour is contradictory to the privatization policies of the Left ruled Kerala which has ironically outsourced many sectors including the health department to the private sector.
The strike comes a day after the private and state buses going off the road blaming the Left government of being anti Labour and anti people on Tuesday.
The cruel trade Unions’ strike has exposed their lack of affinity with the working class which was rendered immobile due to Tuesday’s bus strike Wednesday’s strike. Making a mockery of the court verdicts warning Unions against forcing strikes on people, the police across the state watched helplessly to honour court orders.
At a time when the state economy is in crisis and the state government repeatedly seeking financial help from the Centre, the strike has added to the misery of the state coffers.
The strike has not only hit the grass root level workers, but also those working on a hire and fire basis in the private sector.
With labour supply increasing than the demand, job opportunities and wages have tumbled menacingly. The natives’ reluctance to match the efficiency and wages of migrant workers have rendered many of the locals jobless, forcing some of them to take up illegal activities like drug peddling, gold smuggling and other criminal trades.
Interestingly, the strike has delivered a major blow to people coming from abroad and across the country to enjoy monsoon tourism for which state ministers and officials tour overseas spending taxpayers’ money to woo tourists. Reeling under severe financial crunch, Kerala will have to pay a heavy price for bringing the state economy to a grinding halt by forcefully imposing the strike.
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