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| Sunday, 5 May 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Musical bars, bands and a bonus by FACTOTUM Gone are the days when the working class was unchained and let loose on the streets of Colombo and elsewhere to dive in to the numerous watering holes that marked the way (like flags in a slalom) from Campbell Park to Galle Face green - kept open for the celebrants to enjoy their day that had been declared a holiday a good eight years after Independence by a Government that had been voted in by the workers among others who were determined to be rid of the partying coterie at the top that had demonstrated their antipathy and insensitiveness to unionised labour that supported the radical left at that time. Having partaken of the invigorating brew marching columns of the downtrodden, shouting slogans, would vent their spleen on the wicked capitalists who exploited them dry and reduced them to mere cogs in a wheel sans any purchasing capacity to bestow care on dependents and family. Liquor bars are now closed on this day, what a damper! So what could the proletariat do for want of more exciting pursuits but fall in line and wend their way according to their choice (there's a multiple choice now) to the venue from which they expect the best package for their well-being. To those vying for the support of the worker the day gave them the opportunity to display their clout, to those in power. Successive governments took pains to herd their flock under various ruses and incentives to satisfy themselves that they were well entrenched in the seats of power. But unionised labour is a small fraction of the electorate and many a government was made to rue the day when they misjudged the turnout at May Day rallies. In a country that has gone through the trauma of mass killings and the horrors of shedding blood it would be awesome to whip up again parading workers with slogans and clenched fists urging them to hurl missiles at the glass houses of the agents of commerce some of whom have been the benefactors of the very political parties that roused the 'rabble' to feel free to get even with their exploiters. This time round the most lethal threats came from distant Haputale generating the necessary heat on an otherwise cold and wet day when reactionaries within were warned of dire consequences if they were to cross the divide for power and position in the new equation. Such fearsome threats were the order of the day at May Day rallies in the good old days never to be carried out, though in later times horrendous punishments were meted out in varying degrees for registering dissent. No such dire warnings were sounded at the musical show (the cymbals were too tinny for that) when the leader in windbreaker held forth on the need to bridge differences and resolve problems by peaceful means. Of course, the workers were kept guessing as to the contents in Santa's sack that came in the form of the National Employment Policy unveiled to the moghuls of commerce earlier in the day. If they had flashed the green light then one could expect the laboured plans not to go into limbo, the way the Workers' Charter and its author a former Labour Minister went. The presentation of the draft was timely and its effects we are to assume would dovetail with long term plans! Dusty old banners were washed clean in the rain to be retrieved next year while the band played on to mark another 'great' day when workers showed solidarity displaying unity in diversity. None of the theatrics marred the atmosphere of peace that the country is craving for. That then was the bonus. |
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