Recently, I was invited by a Central Trade Union Organisation to a press conference of its national leadership. The union was launching an agitation against the privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs). Since the union has taken a pro-government stand on certain issues, I thought the conference would help me file some politically important news reports. One of the union’s national secretaries was scheduled to address the conference.
I reached five minutes ahead of time. For a while, nothing happened. Union staff came to me in turns to apologise for the delay. Even half an hour later, I was the only reporter there. The organisers made frantic calls and finally managed to get one YouTuber to attend. The national secretary announced the protest programmes: a march to Parliament was to be followed by dharnas at all the district headquarters. I asked him a few questions about the protest, but I did not ask him what the union would do with the 50 packets of snacks from Bangla Sweets and two big flasks of tea and coffee that it had arranged for reporters and photographers. Later, I covered the Parliament march, which was attended by some 25,000 workers, mostly from PSUs, including defence establishments.
This was not new. I have been covering trade unions for a long time. Irrespective of the political affiliations of the unions, attendance of journalists at union programmes has always been poor. Veteran trade union leader M.K. Pandhe once told a group of journalists at an informal briefing that he depended on western media publications such as the BBC and The Guardian to find out how many workers in India had participated in a strike called by the platform of trade unions against the UPA government’s policies.
Together, the 12 Central Trade Union Organisations in the country have a membership of more than six crore workers. The membership of these unions and affiliated federations is verified periodically by the State governments. The Union government’s verification process has not taken place for some time. Unlike political parties which allow membership even through missed calls, membership of each of these unions is audited. Trade unions file their returns to the Registrar of Trade Unions. It is mandatory for receipt of membership to be filed with the returns. Millions of people are associated with these unions, but the coverage they and their issues get is negligible.
Trade unions across the political divide have been raising issues of livelihood of workers, peasants and unemployed youth. Their demands are echoed in Parliament and their stance is valued and appreciated at meetings of the International Labour Organization (ILO). At a recent meeting of the ILO in Singapore, I saw how world governments, employers and trade unions keenly heard representatives of Indian workers. But the activities and demands of trade unions are largely not covered by the media in India.
Senior trade union leader Amarjeet Kaur, who has spent about five decades in the trade union movement, says many media houses have forgotten the basic principle of objectivity regarding workers’ issues. “This trend of ignoring trade unions and workers gained momentum after the implementation of neoliberalism. Trade unions have always been portrayed as being anti-development. Most media houses are biased towards employers and policymakers. Workers are suffering, but the media finds it easy to ignore this,” she says. “Thanks to the coverage of the BBC, AFP and others, we know about the strike by nurses in Britain and by workers in France. But how many of us know about the protests by coal miners in Jharkhand?”
This is generally the case with farmers’ organisations too. The protests against the three farm laws received wide media coverage only because they were relentless and kept gaining momentum, forcing people to take notice. Perhaps, parts of the media are waiting for such widespread resistance from trade unions too.
jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in
