Did you get a salary hike?

“Read Mazdoor Ekta Lehar!”, “Read about struggle of workers in India and abroad!”, “Read about your own struggle!” These slogans are not new to the workers of the Okhla Industrial Area, who pass everyday via the railway gate near the area. Every fortnight 10-12 comrades, can be seen with the latest issue of Mazdoor Ekta Lehar and interacting with the workers.

The workers ask “Did you get a salary hike?” New comrades are confounded with the question and are not able to make out how they should respond to this simple question. They are too busy selling the paper to the workers. They are pre-occupied and just nod their heads in affirmation. An experienced comrade amongst them explains that this is not how a communist should react.

Now let us move on to the question. Whether somebody has got a raise or not, is a very common curiosity that all workers have. After all it is connected to their livelihood.

One worker explained that whether one is working for a contractor or for any other proprietor, the salary that one gets is hardly enough to fulfill basic socio-economic needs and to live with dignity.

“If workers expect that those sitting in the Parliament will do something for them, then they are fools”, retorted one old worker peeling a banana and stuffing it with masala. Later we came to know that he has to work as a hawker, since the wage that he gets is not enough to provide for himself.

The first worker did not like the remark and pointing his finger towards us asked the old worker “Can we believe these people?”

In a short while a debate broke out. Other workers also joined in. We wanted to give a proper reply to the worker. But looking at the punching card in his hand, he just paid up a rupee for his copy of Mazdoor Ekta Lehar and rushed out of there. He did not want to be late for work.

One can see, both the workers had a valid point. The old worker wanted to say that 60 years have passed since independence. The big parliamentary parties defend the interest of the capitalists. The poor workers and peasants live under an illusion that since they have voted these parties to power they will provide them sukh and suraksha. But their expectations are belied. The rich become richer, while the conditions of poor go from bad to worse everyday.

The worker who thought that we are from some trade unions was also not wrong. The trade unions led by parliamentary communist parties have limited their activities to “economic demands”, that is, to wages. The result is that the entire trade union movement is not able to look beyond immediate economic demands. “Inquilaab Zindabaad!” (long live revolution!) has turned into a mere slogan, without any content.