Refusing to knuckle under, trade unions take on two Kerala govt enterprises
Ever since the Pinarayi Vijayan government retained power in last year’s Assembly elections, it has been trying to rein in trade unions to make Kerala investor-friendly and governance smooth for the chief minister. But recent face-offs between unions and the management of two state-run enterprises show that the government’s effort to control the unions is still a work in progress.
At the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), the pro-CPI(M) KSEB Officers’ Association, which has virtually called shots in the entity over the years, has been protesting against the management since early April following the suspension of executive engineer Jasmin Banu. But the Board suspended the state president of the officers’ body, MG Suresh Kumar, who has worked for several CPI(M) ministers, and general secretary B Harikumar for leading the agitation against the management. Though the two were reinstated on April 13, they were shunted out of Thiruvananthapuram. As a result, the battle of attrition between senior engineers and KSEB chairperson Dr B Ashok, an IAS officer, is continuing.
Meanwhile, workers are also protesting at the cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which is the largest public sector undertaking in the state. The Kerala State Road Transport Employees Association (KSRTEA), which is affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), has taken on the management over its failure to pay last month’s salary.
Another point of friction between the government and the KSRTEA is the K-SWIFT transport firm that was launched by Vijayan last week. The KSRTEA boycotted the event to protest against the government’s decision to hand over a chunk of long-distance bus operations to the new company. Many other trade unions have also opposed the government’s decision to launch K-SWIFT.
Both the CPI(M) and the CITU state leadership have adopted a wait-and-watch approach to the protests at the KSEB and the KSRTC, which come under the portfolios of Left Democratic Front (LDF) allies Janata Dal (Secular) and Janadhipathya Kerala Congress (JKC) respectively. On Saturday, the KSRTEA reminded Transport Minister and JKC leader Antony Raju that it had toiled for his success in the election.
CPI(M) central committee member and CITU national secretary Elamaram Kareem, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said, “The agitations at KSEB and KSRTC are genuine. The KSEB Officers’ Association is not affiliated to CITU. But we are extending support to them. At the KSEB, let the management settle the dispute with the officers. The government will not interfere at this stage. At both enterprises, the management has to address the employees’ issues. KSRTC workers are demanding the wages for last month. It cannot be termed as part of any trade union militancy. Our workers have always supported the management even as they objected to its wrong policies.”
At last month’s CPI(M) state conference, the party, in a policy draft for the Nava Kerala mission, called for a change in the mindset of trade unions, saying they should factor in the management’s concerns. But, as the protests show, the unions are far from falling in line.
