Long Walk: Haymarket-1886 to Colombo 2023: Evolution and Degeneration of Trade Unionism

To commemorate the heroes involved in the 1886 struggle, words stronger than anyone could write are engraved on the Monument erected at the Haymarket, Chicago where Mayday Mayhem occurred, it says, -- ‘the day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today.’

The oldest writings on social class classification are found in Plato’s Socratic dialogue, ‘The Republic’- 375 BCE.  The ideal state according to him comprises three classes: philosophers/rulers, guardians/soldiers, merchants and farmers/ craftsmen. In the immediate post Middle Ages, Adam Smith [Wealth of Nations-1776’] developed the concept of division of labour.  David Ricardo, 19th Century English economist, suggested that a good’s value is determined by the labour hours invested in its production. Both are renowned for their contributions to the evolution of labour movement; they wrote extensively linking labour to economic theory.

Robert Owen [1771-1858] Welsh industrialist, founder of cooperative movement and the ‘Father of British Socialism,’ was well ahead of his time with his ideas of a workers’ utopia. There was already an industrial community attached to the mills he purchased numbering close to 2500; some of them as young as seven years old. Owen restricted child labour to children over ten years and limited shifts to 10 hrs. His labour ideals inspired the industrial world. In 1866, Karl Marx who agreed with Ricardo, ‘the value of a commodity is derived from human labour,’ classified people into two categories: Proletariat and capitalists. While capitalists owned land factories and machinery, the proletariat was left with no other means but the wage they earned by working for the capitalists. Marx proposed to 1st International an 8-hour shift, but he failed to gain attention. In the Marxist context another category who are not clever, and are not interested in changing or improving their situation was known as Lumpens.

In the mid-70s, this writer was a General Councilor of the corporate sector trade union CMU, representing Shaw Wallace & Hedges. CMU was led by legendary trade unionist Comrade Bala Thampoe, who was described as, “the last of the great trade unionists” by columnist DBS Jeyaraj.  A staunch Marxist though, Bala, the General Secretary of the union for over six decades never attempted to enforce his ideological or political clout on CMU membership or its activities; in fact, the majority of 36,000 white-collar members were UNPers. 

Though unions provide an extra level of work security in uncertain times, accepting a union is a necessary first step before one fully commit. The first formal employee organization in Sri Lanka dates back to the 1890s, but to register as a trade union, they had to wait until the ‘Trade Unions Ordinance’ was enacted in 1935.  Since then, political parties [especially Marxist] took over the management of unions, but dirty politicization started only after the late 1970s, with the emergence of a multiplicity of TUs especially in the public sector, hampering the principle of collective bargaining and causing a reduction in worker density.  

In the mid and late 19th century, the working class of the world was in a constant struggle to win better working conditions and 8-hour shifts. It was rather common to exploit, including women and children for 14, 16 and even 20 hours a day in hazardous conditions. Death and injury were routine at every workplace. The demand for a substantial reduction of hours became more evident.  As the police were attempting to disperse the demonstrators in Chicago, a mysterious man threw a bomb at the police. The police responded by slaying four of them instantly. Nine labour leaders were prosecuted and sentenced to death. An event signaled by blood-splattered clothes of heroes who sacrificed lives for a cause 137 years ago has been defiled by politics in Sri Lanka since 1970s— the Greens, Blues, Mauves and Reds here infringed TU to politicize and desecrate the great concept. Workers are being abused for demonstrating their political strengths to dupe the voters. 

In the mid and late 19th century, the working class of the world was in a constant struggle to win better working conditions and 8-hour shifts. It was rather common to exploit, including women and children for 14, 16 and even 20 hours a day in hazardous conditions

The first May Day on the island was held in 1927 by the pioneer, A.E. Goonasinghe, whose birthday coincided with May Day. With the advent of the traditional Marxist movement in the mid-thirties, the first organized political May Day rally was held by LSSP-backed Ceylon Federation of Labour [CFL] in 1936. However, the real workers day celebrations were in 1956 after declaration of International Workers’ Day as an official holiday. May Day was intended to demonstrate worker solidarity against exploitation and their readiness to struggle for winning their rights. It was dedicated to those who toiled, shed sweat, tears and blood in the heroic struggles of the past and to commemorate those heroes for the victories achieved on behalf of the working masses of the world.  There were no politicians then. The event was subsequently polluted by the politicians, making it a delight for the power- crazy corrupt politicians.  ‘The long walk to…’ Colombo from Chicago: lost memories of a proletariat struggle to a political showpiece. The Indian ‘star’-studded Galle Face Green May pageants of 1978-92, under JR/RP, ended with the tragic and unfortunate death of President Ranasinghe Premadasa that occurred on May Day in 1993 when LTTE used a suicide bomber.   

In Sri Lanka the trade union leaders affiliated with NGOs and Political parties have formed a multiplicity of unions; disunity and the decline of real trade union power have all resulted in the workers losing the initiative and bargaining power. It is an irony in a country with a near 100 years of trade unionism and with 93% literacy, political vultures continue to manipulate the fortunes of the workers. These self-appointed ‘businessmen’ are either politicians or their cronies or retired scandalous characters who use TUs to climb to power and make money. 

Names of TU leaders like Bala Thampoe who led the struggles 1980s against two autocratic rulers who mustered the services of infamous “cycle chain gangs” and hooligans in addition to law enforcement authorities to physically confront protestor/demonstrators, [while BASL, HR, NGOs and Religious dignitaries maintained stoic silence], are indelibly etched in trade union annals of the island. They are no more; but replaced with the above immoral men. The legendary leaders of the calibre of Thampoe representing the working class will always be regarded as incomparable.

 The 25 trade unions representing professionals in the public sector launched a “black week” in January. While most other professionals are back at work, the University dons are continuing their ‘struggle’ demanding concessions on PAYE deductions. This columnist spoke to four known members of FUTA representing four different Universities, and all of them were highly critical of the leaders’ stand on the issue.

Centuries before Haymarket mayhem, a festival of flowers, ‘Floralia,’ [in veneration of the Roman goddess of flowers], was held on May 1. This ‘spring festival’ of the Northern hemisphere, they crowned a “Queen of May” and “May baskets” [sweets and flowers] were left anonymously on neighbours’ entrances. With the ‘explosion’ of 19th century Chicago tragedy, flower baskets turned into blood-sprayed cloths, creating the RED flag for our scoundrel politicos to taint them with Blue, Green, Mauve and Yellow on May 1. 
Let’s resolve to free TUs from political vultures!

[email protected]