{"id":20821,"date":"2013-05-01T19:17:49","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T23:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20821"},"modified":"2013-05-01T19:17:49","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T23:17:49","slug":"may-daythe-rights-of-the-working-class-are-forgotten-in-sri-lanka-as-political-pageantry-takes-centre-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20821","title":{"rendered":"May Day:The rights of the working class are forgotten in Sri Lanka as political pageantry takes centre stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

by<\/p>\n

Dilrukshi Handunnetti<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was not surprising to find yesterday, thousands of ‘electrocuted’ (and duped) Sri Lankans jubilantly assembling at various rallying points to celebrate International Labour Day. Not surprising, because Sri Lankans have been demonstrating unfailing loyalty to the war-winning regime, irrespective of the regular price escalations, the latest being the debilitating electric shock that came as a post-Avurudu bonanza.<\/p>\n

The annual convergence of the people generally takes place in the name of the working class and their perennial struggles, but Colombo yesterday showed a marked difference.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

May Day as it is known, was marked by a variety of festivities yesterday, including colourful pageants and merry processions that hailed the country’s president as the best in the world, and the deliverer. The pro-government celebrations were spectacular in stark contrast to May Day processions of yesteryear which were minimalist affairs that reflected issues affecting the working class.<\/p>\n


\nPageantry to the fore<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the pageantry aspect was high, forgotten were the true meaning of International Labour Day and the worker, whose rights the day was initially supposed to draw international focus towards. For those who have had the propensity to forget the day’s significance, in a local context, we are talking about over 45% of the country’s working population, the blue collars mostly, including the migrant workers.<\/p>\n

Wednesday’s celebrations were all about the party worker of the ruling coalition as opposed to the worker; the man and woman who do laborious work to eke out a living and whose rights are often violated and exploited by the masters. It was almost as if (barring the UNP protester in loin cloth, protesting the hike) the tariff increase (averaging Rs 4000-5000 for regular, middle-class households) was a welcome measure. There was such jubilation in the average person associated with the pro-government rallies.<\/p>\n

Though President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during his speech made at the Campbell Park rally yesterday, did refer to his days as a trade unionist, a young party activist, an opposition politician, and later a government politician during which time he claimed to have espoused the cause of the working class, even he referred to the rally as a ‘athi deventha nil releliya (a massive blue rally). It was far better than the world famous Mardi Gras or Sri Lanka’s own national cultural parade, the Kandy Perahera.<\/p>\n

To that extent, May Day is politicized, obscuring the meaning of the day and what it is meant to celebrate \u2013 the worker and his rights. Instead, political parties today use this as yet another political platform to competitively demonstrate their ability to mobilize people (the rice and milk packet theory playing a crucial role). Generally, they end up as typical extravaganzas and political statements that are strongly disconnected to the rights of the workers.<\/p>\n

An aberration<\/strong><\/p>\n

What Sri Lanka witnessed yesterday was truly an aberration of the ethos associated with International Workers’ Day which was dedicated to the celebration of the international labour movement. A national holiday in more than 85 countries at present, and celebrated by more countries than that, it is a day that commemorates the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The Chicago Police attempted to disperse a public assembly during a general strike that demanded for a work day of eight hours, when an unidentified person hurled a bomb at them.<\/p>\n

The police reacted by firing on the workers, killing four demonstrators. That is also remembered as a day when the police (representing the State), firing at civilian protestors who made a legitimate demand for a ceiling on the number of working hours, a trend that had continued well after 125 years.<\/p>\n

Rights won by sacrifice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historical records have it that in 1889, the first congress of the second international meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, who called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. International Labour Day, also known as May Day, was formally recognized as an annual event at the second congress in 1891.<\/p>\n

Following the 1894 May Day riots, in 1904, the International Socialist Conference that met in Amsterdam called on “all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First, for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.” The Congress thereafter declared it mandatory for the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on 1 May, wherever it is possible, without injury to the workers. Since then, it had remained a focal point for demonstrations by various groups dedicated to furthering the cause of the working class. But all of that is history, and almost of a forgotten kind.<\/p>\n

Lacking focus<\/strong><\/p>\n

The colourful parade was truly spectacular and had little to do with the deep political meaning associated with the day. The ruling party’s procession clearly emerged winner in terms of creativity and pageantry while completely lacking focus on the worker, a formidable component of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) initial pancha maha balavegaya (five main forces).<\/p>\n

People actually appeared happy, and that’s a shocker. Forgotten in the May Day m\u00eal\u00e9e was the spiralling cost of living owing to the regular escalation of prices of essentials and the proposed electricity hike, and true to style, President Rajapaksa, ever the populist, stepped into resolve the tug o’ war between the power sector officials and the public by publicly announcing with great fanfare, that there would be no electric shock to the people. The benevolent ruler announced that there would be no tariff change for those using up to 60 units and some relief for those who consume up to 180 units.<\/p>\n

While Sri Lanka appears to be a true paradise, with or without electricity tariff increases, there was a sound economic view recently expressed about Sri Lanka soon reaching double digit inflation in the near future.<\/p>\n

Muthukrishna Sarvananda, a respected economist who is also the Principal Researcher of the Jaffna-based Point Pedro Institute of Development has publicly said, although single digit at present, the inflation rate would soon reach double digit due to price hikes in fuel and energy.<\/p>\n

He has explained that, according to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES 2009\/10) undertaken by the Department of Census and Statistics, the average monthly household expenditure was Rs 31,331 out of which Rs18,064 (57.7%) was utilized for non-food expenditure. He has explained that out of the total non-food expenditure, the second highest expenditure is on transport, making the average household spending on transport at least around Rs 2,317 while the expenditure on fuel and light were around Rs 1,278, together making up 20% of the non-food expenditure of a regular household, while acknowledging that the margin would differ due to factors such as rural and urban populations, estate areas, districts levels and income groups. “But inflation will go double digit, soon,” he has warned, stressing that the low and middle income classes would be the most burdened.<\/p>\n

Judging by the mirth witnessed yesterday at the government May Day Rally, it is possible to momentarily forget the voice of reason, with a perilous economic warning; and even to believe in the Marie Antoinette’s proffered choice to an impoverished French people, of eating cake, if not bread. In such a state, how does one find the space for a true workers agenda or to uphold their much-trampled rights?
\nCOURTESY:CEYLON TODAY<\/em><\/p>\n

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by Dilrukshi Handunnetti It was not surprising to find yesterday, thousands of ‘electrocuted’ (and duped) Sri Lankans jubilantly assembling at various rallying points to celebrate International Labour Day. Not surprising, because Sri Lankans have been demonstrating unfailing loyalty to the war-winning regime, irrespective of the regular price escalations, the latest being the debilitating electric shock …<\/p>\n

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