Report by the Correspondent of Mazdoor Ekta Committee
Mazdoor Ekta Committee organized a meeting on ‘Unemployment – Causes and Solutions – Demand for An Employment Guarantee’ on 4th August 2024. Shri Santosh Kumar from Mazdoor Ekta Committee; Ms. Manju Goyal, Amazon India Workers Association; Comrade Sujata Modi, President, Garments and Fashion Workers Union; Shri Ram Naresh Paswan, National Treasurer, All India Railway Track Maintainers Union; Shri Vijay Kumar Bandhu, President, National Movement for OPS; and Ms. Avantika, Youth Activist, presented their views on the problem of increasing unemployment faced by workers, especially women workers and youth, in different sectors. Workers, peasants, women, youth, political and social activists from India and abroad participated in the meeting in large numbers.
While conducting the meeting, Secretary of Mazdoor Ekta Committee, Shri Birju Nayak cited a few examples to illustrate the terrible situation of unemployment in the country. He invited the speakers to present their views on this burning issue and the ways to solve it.
Shri Santosh Kumar explained, with the help of many examples how, due to paper leaks and various types of rigging in examinations, the dreams of lakhs of youth to get access to higher education and employment are being destroyed day by day. Due to severe unemployment in the country, our workers are being sent to work in Israel, risking their lives. Lakhs of workers are forced to go to Gulf countries and be subjected to slavery in inhuman conditions. Due to severe unemployment in the agricultural sector, our youth are forced to go to Italy and other countries and work like bonded labourers and lose their lives. More than 80 percent of the unemployed people of India are youth. Thousands of graduates with degrees like BA, MA and even PhD holders apply to fill a few hundred vacancies in government jobs.
On the issue of insecurity of employment facing us, Shri Santosh said that in almost every sector – banks, government agencies, hospitals, schools and universities – even those who hold the key critical responsibilities like teachers, nurses, doctors and paramedics are being hired on contract. More and more youth are forced to work as gig workers and delivery workers for giant e-commerce companies like Amazon, Big Basket etc. They work in delivery for more than 12-14 hours a day or in the warehouses for 6-8 hours a day without a break, standing all the time, to meet the impossible targets set by the company. Shri Santosh exposed the painful reality that the government skill-development schemes are – extracting crores of rupees from the youth and promising them jobs, while they actually serve to increase the profits of capitalists by supplying cheap labour to domestic and foreign private companies. By pitting our youth against each other on the basis of their caste and religion and with the help of brutal repression against them to crush their united resistance, the capitalist state tries to break their unity and suppress their anger.
Santosh Kumar explained how unemployment is an inevitable consequence of the capitalist system. The capitalists always maintain a reserve army of unemployed. Taking advantage of this reserve army, the capitalists are in a position to force all workers to work in increasingly exploitative conditions and at minimal wages. Thus, with the help of unemployment, the wages of all workers are reduced and exploitation is increased.
The demand for an employment guarantee, which is being raised by many youth of our country today, is a very legitimate demand. The capitalist class ruling our country can never fulfil this demand. Therefore, to end unemployment, we have to establish the rule of workers and peasants in place of the present rule of the capitalist class. The aim of the rule of workers and peasants will be to meet the growing needs of all our people, which would inevitably create a lot of employment in every sector of industry and services. Only then will the right of employment guarantee become a reality.
Comrade Sujatha Modi spoke about the problems faced by young girls and women working in the garment industry in Tamil Nadu. Most of them are forced to migrate from villages to cities due to the severe crisis in the agricultural sector. These companies, which are suppliers to the world’s biggest fashion brands, hire women workers by promising them accommodation and food. Women workers are forced to live in extremely unhygienic conditions, 8-10 of them crowded in a small room. About two years ago, one woman worker has died due to unhygienic food being served to her, against which, all the workers went on strike. Workers are made to sign to work for minimum wages, but are actually paid only Rs. 10-12 thousand, less than a minimum wage. They have to work on contract. Workers are not given ESI or any kind of social security. There is no guarantee of employment; factory owners hire them on 11-month contracts, then fire them and hire new women. Often these women take care of the entire family with their meagre income and therefore it has a huge impact on their children as well.
Comrade Sujata Modi cited the example of the extreme exploitation of women workers in Foxconn Company, pointing out that not only in private companies, but thousands of women working on contract in government and municipal institutions are also facing a similar situation. Anganwadi and Asha workers have to fight to even be recognized as workers. Comrade Sujata Modi called upon the trade unions and workers’ organizations to intensify their struggle against this extreme exploitation of all workers, especially women workers, and to demand guaranteed employment for all.
Ms. Manju Goyal described the pathetic working conditions of the young people working in Amazon India’s warehouse. Most of the workers are boys and girls in the age group of 18-30 years, who have to work 10 hours standing, for a meagre salary of about Rs 10,000 per month. The girls often have to walk 20 kilometres, carrying 20 kg of weight, even on the difficult days of the month, for them. In extreme heat, without air conditioning, they have to meet impossible targets set by the company or risk being fired. The workers are locked up like prisoners from morning to evening and forced to work under very exploitative conditions. If a worker falls ill, he is given a paracetamol tablet and asked to go back to work. The management treats the workers in the most inhumane manner possible.
Ms Manju recalled an incident on May 16 when, in 52-degree centigrade temperature-heat, the manager asked the workers to take an oath that no one could go to the toilet or drink water until the targets were met. When the workers organised and complained to the president of the Amazon India Workers Association, the manager was let off with only a warning!
Ms. Manju appealed to all workers’ unions that they should raise the demand for security of jobs for all Amazon workers and all gig workers, delivery workers and contract workers and intensify their struggle to achieve this.
Ms. Avantika discussed the growing despair among the youth due to rigging in examinations, increasing privatization of education and not getting a job even after spending lakhs of rupees on coaching classes. Incidents of suicide are increasing. Education is becoming out of reach for the children of our workers and peasants. All national and international companies are forcing workers to work on contract and do not even pay minimum wages. To increase the profits of these capitalist companies, the government is going to implement new labour codes, under which workers will be forced to work 12-14 hours a day and women will be forced to work even in night shifts. These working conditions will be considered legal. Contract work will be provided legal sanctions and it will become very difficult for workers to form unions and fight for their basic rights.
Justifying the demand for guaranteed employment, Avantika appealed to all the youth to unite and launch a massive campaign for achieving their demand with the slogan ‘Sabko Shiksha-Sabko Rojgar’.
Shri Ram Naresh Paswan spoke in detail about the plight of track maintainers in Indian Railways. According to a report of the Ministry of Railways, more than 440 track maintainers have died under the train on the tracks during the past 5 years, but these deaths have not been properly investigated. He said that there is no recruitment for filling up the vacant posts in the Railways. Untrained workers are being made to work on contract at very low wages, due to which the dangers during rail travel are increasing. New trains like Vande Bharat are not being manufactured by the engineers of Indian Railways, but are being outsourced to foreign companies. Due to all these reasons, unemployment is increasing in the Railways. All workers must raise their voice against the inhuman conditions faced by them in the railways.
Shri Vijay Kumar Bandhu said that one of the main reasons for unemployment is the Government’s failure to fill up vacancies in various government institutions and public sector industries. Due to the rapid privatization of public institutions and services, a large number of jobs are being lost, while very few new jobs are being created; and those too are very low-paid, insecure contract jobs, in which workers are being over-exploited and there is no provision for social security and pension for them. Citing the example of Indian Railways, Shri Bandhu said that the work of manufacturing engines for modern trains like Vande Bharat, is being handed over to private foreign companies, when the engineers of Indian Railways are perfectly capable of manufacturing these engines. These kinds of policies are increasing unemployment. Due to the abolition of permanent jobs in the Railways and getting the work done by untrained contract workers, not only is unemployment increasing but the dangers during rail travel are also increasing. Shri Bandhu called for intensifying the movement against contract work and privatization.
After these presentations by the speakers, many participants presented their views on the issue of demanding their right for an employment-guarantee.
Rakesh, one of the young teachers, pointed out that during working class rule in the former Soviet Union and under the socialist system which had replaced the capitalist system, there was no trace of unemployment there. Unemployment is a direct consequence of the capitalist system and the insatiable greed of the capitalists to earn more and more profits. It is clear that to eliminate unemployment, we have to eliminate capitalism and build socialism.
Many other participants drew everyone’s attention to the fact that all the political parties sitting in the Parliament protect the existing capitalist system and the system of parliamentary democracy. They all work in the interest of the capitalists. When in the opposition, they promise to eliminate unemployment but after coming in power, they openly work in the service of the capitalists.
Concluding the meeting, Shri Birju Nayak presented the main conclusion of the discussion that unemployment is an inevitable consequence of the capitalist system. The creation of a reserve army of unemployed enables the capitalists to super-exploit the workers and increase capitalist profits by reducing wages. We must end the present system of capitalist exploitation and establish the public ownership of all means of production; only then will we be able to solve the problem of unemployment and make the right to guaranteed employment a reality.