George Fernandes and the Labour Unions

He was the man who could bring Mumbai to its knees. As one of the country’s most powerful trade union leaders, George Fernandes’ hold over the unions of the BMC, BEST and taxi-drivers was so complete that every time he called for a bandh, the city ground to a halt. But now, these very unions have turfed him out from his post as president. "Fernandes had it coming," Sharad Rao, union leader and Fernandes’ protege-turned-rival told TOI. "By identifying himself closely with the BJP and its right-wing economic policies, he had alienated himself completely from the working class. "As Union minister (of defence) he found time to fly to Mumbai to release a book by BJP MP Jaywantiben Mehta, but he had no time to meet workers. He was a member of the NDA cabinet which welcomed globalisation and sold several public sector undertakings, but he did not lift his little finger in protest. Thousands of factories were shut as a result of these policies," Rao complained. Fernandes’ close aide Ranjit Bhanu refuted these charges and accused Rao of indulging in disinformation. Fernandes has hit back by sacking Rao. At a recent meeting of the national executive of the pro-socialist HindMazdoor Kisan Panchayat, which controls the recognised unions in the BMC,BEST and the taxi trade, the 76-year-old Fernandes was expelled through a resolution backed by 55 of the 92 members. Twenty-three of his core supporters on the executive were also sacked and Rao elected president. Rao said that for the last four years no meeting of the executive had been convened by Fernandes. In fact, the meeting was twice cancelled. "I was under tremendous pressure from the rank and file to convene the meeting. I informed Fernandes and all the members of the executive and then convened the meeting. All the speakers felt that Fernandes had drifted too far away from the working class. We had no answers when workers asked us why he was continuing as HMKP president when he was party to the NDA government’s anti-worker policies.” Bhanu retorted that if Rao was so concerned about the working class, he would not have joined the NCP whose president Sharad Pawar is a known votary of globalisation. Bhanu said there was nothing Fernandes could do to reverse the economic policies of the NDA government since the previous government led by P V Narasimha Rao had committed the country irrevocably to these policies.

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