AN EPILOGUE

From
S.SRINIVASAN
NL, 6 Type, Bldg 20, Room 4 Sector 9 Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706

Email: ambujchinu@gmail.com


Dear friends






LEST MEMORY REMAINS

When I look back at the path that I have had to traverse all these years, I feel
immensely satisfied that I have been able to contribute, though in a very small
measure, to the healthy growth of the trade union movement in our bank,
under the banner of All India Overseas Bank Employees Union.

The journey that started in Mumbai in the year 18
th
March 1974 came to an end
on July 11th, 2014, the day I retired from the post I held in our union. I am greatly
indebted to the founding father of this great institution, the late MCT Chidambaram
Chettiyar, for having provided a bread-winner for my family. Had this great
visionary, astute businessman and philanthropist, not founded this bank in the year
1936, many of us today would not have been part of its chequered history. When I
think of Mumbai, I am reminded of my old days when I had to struggle
against severe odds to bring about a semblance of sanity in the way the affairs of
the regional unit there was being conducted.

Many thanks are due to my fellow travellers and worthy companions from my base
unit Mumbai In my nascent days ,very resourceful human beings, who were all a
source of my strength in making All India Overseas Bank Employees
Union, a force to reckon with in not only in the trade union scene of Mumbai in
the early eighties but at all India level too. .



I note with satisfaction that our union has since grown by leaps and bounds in
Mumbai, the commercial capital of India and is in the vanguard of every
struggle launched by the bank unions against the oppressive policies of IBA and
the Government combine, which have always sought to undermine the stellar
roles played by trade unions of different hues at the industry level, in
safeguarding the hard won rights of bank employees in the country.

From Mumbai to Chennai, the journey was an uphill task. I acknowledge with
thanks the support received from two great souls who immortalized the six
magic letters AIOBEU viz., Comrade C.R.Chandrasekharan and
Com.P.Balagopala Menon who gave stature, solidity, new dimension, perspective
and thrust to our union which grew from strength to strength.

In Chennai I found an understanding, caring and above all a true companion
Com.L.Balasubramanian, who successfully steered our union out of the
difficult period of early nineties. But for his unqualified support I would not
have had the measure of success in the discharge of my duties and responsibilities
as your General Secretary.

Working our way through the rank and file we could reach the highest
position in the hierarchical set up of our union, and national union by sheer
perseverance and hard work. We led our union from the front and were able to
create a niche for ourselves amongst our peers... We have batted, bowled, fielded
together in all weather - foul or fine enduring the test of time for over 23 years, as a
unique a Ram & Lakshman combination and earned the eternal good will and title
variables but inseparables.. We were and are comrade-in arms.

I came to the union movement, more so to our union life, by choice and not by
chance, in pursuance of some ideals, convictions and mission. I draw great
satisfaction upon having accomplished some of them, as I leave the office of
General Secretary of All India Overseas Bank Employees Union. . I reassure
myself that this is only a fraction of the world that has received my attention,
strength and adulation for a long, long time. I do not wish to harangue you through
this epilogue with any specifics. Theres a lot more good that I can endeavor
bring upon the rest of the world, more so the unorganized sector that awaits my
pursuit.

I have been summing up for less fortunate all these days. Now I have summed up
my association with union which had been an integral part of work life imbalance
for over 41 years. My abrupt decision to deunionise from the attendant
responsibilities of my post in the union has provided me new leaf of lifestyle
to reunionise with my family, who have been extended family of my union.

Please go through my C.V attached to this epilogue.





My mind is full of nostalgic memories of my early days in Mumbai of Sitting under
a tree in public Park at Hutatma Chowk, Fort Mumbai or in Irani restaurants,
sipping cups, cups of tea and Vada Pav from road side stalls as lunch and dinner,
hand writing many circulars, letters to bank and members and pamphlets. I cannot
f o r g e t those memorable d a y s wh e n we seized an union office a t Nariman
point branch by shrewd strategies and struggles, when my colleague office bearers
and activist used c o n g r e g a t e after office hours, assist me with typing my
publications, circulars, and dedicated sub staff comrades cyclostyle it, and scores of
others writing address in envelops, sticking and mailing them all by
themselves. Today we are having a air-conditioned office, and a good
infrastructure such as telephone, fax, computers for dissemination of quick
information. This represents the voyage of growth of our union. In this long
journey of my struggles many members who participated as award staff
(clerk/sub staff), in tune with the conviction that our union nurtures resourceful
human beings, many have become Talented officers, why even Executives, some
serving still, others since retired. I owe a deep sense of gratitude to all of them.

Radicalized in the bed rock of militant struggles of textile workers in Mumbai in
the early eighties and that of unorganized working class, having spent prime of life
during those struggle in shanty slums of Chembur in Mumbai, I came to known as
comrade at the barricade by Mumbai members.

My memorable agitations were CASH IS SAFE! ARE WE! agitation during
1986 at Mumbai when took a Morcha to Police Commissioner Office in 1986
demanding adequate security measures for protecting staff and customers which
was covered in leading magazine India today on April 15, 1986. As result of
agitation and propaganda unleashed for the first time Government came with
notification for rewarding staff in resisting dacoity as well compensation to
family of the deceased.

See: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/banks-in-bombay-become-sitting-
ducks-both-for-amateur-robbers-and-organised-gangs/1/348365.html

Next agitation which remains etched in my memory is again at Mumbai when
during early nineties when IBA issued unilateral instructions to stop granting
maternity leave for abortions, MTP and miscarriages. While many unions
including the Apex unions at National levels took to legal recourse to RLCs, we
in Mumbai organized direct actions , mobilizing wider sections of the society
which included workers from other industries , doctors of Medical Guild , with
eye-catching imaginative posters IBA ABORTS MATERNITY LEAVE!,
MANAGEMENT MISCARRIAGE!, issued bold circular, submitted
memorandum to IBA, which united many women comrades from other unions.
Sequel to our agitation and the publicity it received in Media, IBA was forced
to relent and they withdrew the mendacious circular and restored maternity
benefits as per extant settlement.






Notwithstanding the pangs of hunger, the wracking torment of the bodily pain due
to frequent trips and tours, many long distance train journeys till 1998 (when
fund position of our union was not robust), relative discomforts of lodges
and journeys, away from my sweet hearts at the family all the time, the ferocity of
my burning soul, livid at the injustice of the absurd situations of IBA/
Government combine in vice grip of IMF/WB directives who exercise remote
control of wage freeze, downsizing, outsourcing etc., in every negotiations, I
undertook strenuous tour of all southern states and some in then north, east ,west
& north east , despite my frail health and our organizational preoccupation. I
addressed meetings in my own style, drawing rapt attention of the overflowing
members in all occasions and built confidence among t he general bank
empl oyees. I have the privilege and distinction visiting over 2500 branches
in IOB in the length breadth of the country, a good record, and could establish
contact with union workers at the grass root level, in the process was fortune
enough to know & understand Indias heartlands and its toiling people.

In the nascent days of me taking the mantle of the union as Secretary during
1991 during my camp at Chennai I had put up with relative discomforts at old,
decrepit, dilapidated Chintrdrpet Guest house of the union, thereafter at our
10-10 sq.ft guest house at Thousand Lights, with no telephone connections or even
a kitchen, surviving on outside, road side food many a times, and finally settled for
a longer period at my friend flat at T. Nagar with all the basic need based amenities,
for which union was paying notional rent, fifty percent lesser than prevalent market
rates. When camped at Chennai, I treasure courtesies of many good comrades
who were kind enough to take up my to and fro droppings from our guest
house/s to union office in their motorcycles, without demur or any axe to kind.

I was adept in handling domestic enquires, defended scores of employees in the
disciplinary proceeding, picking holes in the charge sheet, drawing
strategies in cross examinations, referring to scores of court cases in law
journals and carved out niche that a case entrusted to me is life restored and
well insulated in the comity of unions and bank employees.

Many people believe in courage of their connections, but I believe in the
courage of ones convictions. And this courage of ones convictions theory alone
propelled me and superlative confidence alone sustained me in the darkest
moments.

I have fond memories and reflections of the value additions brought to the
staff, as well as the bank and I leave behind scores of intellectual property and
documents, as footprints, for furtherance of the same. These stand apart in a motley crowd of
peers and in the field of industrial relations, HR policies, staff welfare measures etc. These
memories will remain etched in my heart, which neither time nor space can efface. So as I look
back to the events of four decades in our union there is much of which I can be grateful, there is
much of which I can take pride also, pride in our action we have taken, pride in the stands we have
made, pride in the things we have done, not only for the employees of IOB but for the entire
labour movement in general and Bank employees in particular

I have since, realized, that a Win-Lose option only leads to stagnation, which hampers growth. In
the current scenario, one cannot afford to stagnate. On the contrary if every issue can be
addressed objectively, keeping in mind, the interest of the bank, and its people, the solution will
be an obvious outcome, furthering t he gr owt h of our or gani zat i on. A Win-Win pr oces s
l e ads t o progress and growth of the organization, which benefits the management and the union.
This model that I had adopted all through my tenure, cannot be rejected for its simplicity, for what
each one of us need to understand is that there is a simple way out to complex problems, but the
problem with us is that, we understand simple things only when they are presented in a complex
way. I leave behind this healthy model in HR & IR practices the continuity of three Cs Co-
operation, Consensus, and Consolidation, characterizing the corporate culture prevalent in the
Bank.

No person in the long journey through life escapes the craving for rest. Active as he may in
whatever sphere of life, eager to press forward in some vital quest, ambitious as he may be
for honour, position, wealth or fame, there comes a moment of realisation when one would gladly
forsake anything for a period of rest. Ultimately all of us must one day travel a full circle and
come back to the point from where we started, only to find that we had been fire fighting with this
illusory world and that the real self lies with each one of us, what we can term as the Jivatma,
which is a part of the greater Paramatma. This philosophy I hope will provide me the impetus to
embark on a euphemistically new way to employ my God given yet buried talents and experience
the renaissance call to newness.

Today When I I have brought the shutters down of my union work, I would like to reproduce what
Ravi Subramanian, the author of I Bought the Monks Ferrari, shared with his readers,
which touched his heart. It was written by his colleague, who on reading his first book, If God
was a Banker, came up to him and pulled out a crumpled paper from the depths of a folder she
was carrying. She said to him that she had written this poem a few days into her first job.

Sometimes in my mind, a thought does dwell,
How does one live life well? Religion, status, money
and fame, Is one taught to play this game?

With scruples to kill, for all that is nice, Does honesty really
pay a good price? Baffled, Im sure, you may feel,
This winding road to get uphill.

Honour and pride are all yesteryears charms, Now it is one after
the other, out to harm, Humanity for sure has taken a turn,
I bet, God himself is saying What have I done?


Each one is out to beat the rest, With morals and values
put to test, How much is true, who is to tell,
Gods heaven on earth is turning into a hell.

But life is short and its end is certain, Its all in the rise
and fall of a curtain, And, when it is time for you to pass,
Prepare for the questions that He might ask.

- Neomi Lobo

This poem, however, is a sad commentary on what people actually end up doing in their
pursuit of success. Engulfed in our desperation and dauntless enthusiasm to acquire name and
fame, we often tend to pay no heed to scruples, conscience, morals, values, honour, pride
the traits that maketh a human. Success at the cost of humanity is not worth fighting for. It is not
something which you deserve and it will not stay with you forever. At some point or the other,
it will desert you and you will never again get an opportunity to own one in your entire life.

The most derogatory thing about time is its infinite capacity to generate the moment. The most
profound thing about time is also its capacity to reconstruct the past. Everything in my
life as a trade union leader in particular is a kaleidoscope of time, inspiration, memories,
pains, exhilarations, exaltations and ecstasies, achievements and failures all bracketed as
nostalgia. I will be approaching the zero hour of union activities shortly. I propose to dawn
new avatar, back to teaching underprivileged college students up to graduation level Maths,
writing content material to volunteers of teach India projects and take up other social
assignments to keep me preoccupied.

If I had not already left a message, by my thought and deeds, dedication and devotion all
through my 35 years in the union movement to my members then I have no right to
leave a message today which could come from my heart at the fag end of my trade union life. .
The greatest tribute my union could pay me and our fraternity is to maintain healthy
traditions and continue to march.

I note with satisfaction that our union has today grown by leaps and bounds, and is in the
vanguard of every struggle launched by bank employees. Many things have been done by our
union for betterment staff .but we had looked beyond the normal portals of union world of
immediate demands and issues of members alone and has strived to contribute for the betterment of
society undertaking community development projects and social projects form time to time. Among
many things we have done for members and society ,I will consider one lac tree planning
programme which we undertook in five southern district spending Rs40/- lakhs partnering
with ISHA foundation,- Project-Green Hands, commemorating unions diamond jubilee, and
regularization of over one thousand casual laborers engaged by he bank for prolonged period
with low adhoc wages, into permanent employment through a historic settlement, redesignation of
sweepers who were eking out abysmally low wages as fulltime messengers, I will consider as
significant.

After all, in life also many things happen without giving a sense of totality. And then, the
horizon is beckoning us with ever expanding possibilities. We begin the fresh journey in our
union after reaching superannuation from the our service with faith in our heart and speed in our
muscles. And if we take glory in anything, it is that our whole life has been dedicated to service of
our members and for espousing trade union cause. I say again and again to our members that
our foremost aim is to maintain our unity and indivisibility. When we attend your problems we
only exercise our power which goes on increasing with every application and is never lessened .It
is not that you get something today and tomorrow you grow weak and get nothing.

I realize the union has miles to go, as new problems come up, new challenges arise, new solutions
have to be found, new advances have to be registered, and new facts and even new statistical material
have to be taken note of and to be able to keep pace with it, there has to be continuous and additional
change in study and trade union education and its approach to modern social dilemmas.. I recall here
my earlier observation that I never thought of myself having a complete grasp of anything, ideas,
thoughts, acts or behaviour. Remember! Knowledge is a matter of science and no dishonesty or conceit
whatsoever is permissible. What is required is definitely the reverse - honesty and modesty.

I am an ordinary human with more ignorance and defaults than thought of by others. My personal
life was mostly public and little private. On the brighter side, I nurse a feeling that I could inspire,
develop a pool of comrades who can manifest my thought, deeds and actions in the union and can
become my able successors. To them I am sharing some simple pearls of wisdom are the most simple
and many came from our own members.

Do the right thing
Demand performance
Don't forget to forgive
Bad news doesn't get better with time
If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right
Don't forget to say "Thank You" And, most of
all:
Take care of our members!

Stops are pauses that give us a breathing space. Life however goes on inexorable. Struggles are like
rivers in the spate of actions and actions are like men carrying boats. Men carry boat through the
water and water gives boat a life. The turbulence of the water and the winds of your goodwill and
response to my thoughts will usher me a peaceful, purposeful retired life from the union and bank.
Now that I have bid goodbye to all of you, for me, every tomorrow is a new beginning,
which I would like to begin with a new vigour, a new energy and new passion- and above all, with
a new promise.

Superannuating movie techniques is called fade out. In politics it is going into oblivion. But to
non-political independent trade unionist it is just retirement. From activity to inactivity there is
no visible barrier, but there is a chasm in between. I am crossing it, carrying with the weight
of bank employees, working class movement.

The union movement is my first love. Separation from this love, the fraternity is therefore all the
more painful. The pangs of separation from the Bank and the union make my heart bleed. My
heart however is big enough to have space for every IOBian and bank employees. My term in the
Bank and union may expire, but the pleasant memories of my association, souvenir of good will
continue to inspire.

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the
world remains, and are immortal.

I've learned a lot along the way from my peers, superiors, subordinates and well-wishers like
you alike.

Every one of you has contributed to who I am today. Because of you, I have achieved much more in
life that I ever had a right to expect, and have become much richer in spirit. You are also the
reason that me and my family, that I look forward to the next chapter of our lives, with no regrets
and with every expectation that your nurturing friendship will continue.

I am only leaving only my post in the union and not rank of the UNION. Remember! Posts and Powers
are only structural aspects of the union. The function of the union is to fight, fight against injustice
of any kind or form. We have always been blessed with the best and brightest our union has to
offer.

I hope that the relationship I have shared with each of you individually has been a positive one.
What I can say with conviction is that each of YOU has helped to make ME a better person. For that, I
am forever in your debt.

I am taking the high road today and look forward to seeing you along the way. Many comrades, well
wishers from the length breadth of our country have
conveyed their sincere good wishes, conveying nice things about me through email, letters and over
phone. I thank every one of them from the realm of my heart. I trust , what good things are spoken
about me today on occasion like this gives way to cold logic, when objective analysis of nearness
to you is evaluated after some months , years , if you still give me the portion of what good things
conveyed today about me, I will consider, I have done my job well.

I shall remain inseparable from the Union that has been my family, and will always stand by to
guide, when Im needed.

With an expression of gratitude to each and every one my well wishers which includes all of you, for
your kind cooperation and understanding.


Good luck. Adios!
Love



S.SRINIVASAN
Dt: 21-08-2014












I expect to pass through life
but once.
If therefore, there be any kindness
I can show,
or any good thing I can do
to any fellow being,
let me do it now,
and not defer or neglect it
as I shall not pass this way again.

William Pen


























S.SRINIVASAN

CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)


NAME : S.SRINIVASAN

ROLL NO : 8409,

PPO No. 12191

DESIGNATION : SPECIAL ASSISTANT BRANCH :
CHEMBUR, MUMBAI

DATE OF BIRTH : 12-03-1952

DATE OF JOINING : 18-03-1974

DATE OF RETIREMENT : 21-03-2012

AGE : 62 YEARS

QUALIFICATION : B.Sc (Maths) I Class First Rank Holder
In Bombay University

Residential Address : NL-6, Type, 20/4, Sector-9, Nerul,
New Mumbai, Maharashtra 400 706

Residential Phone : 022-2770 2969, 0 9 8 6 9 4 6 6 5 9 5


E-Mail : ambujchinu@gmail.com



EXPERIENCE AS A UNION ACTIVIST:

1974 Conference : Tea Club Secretary of Matunga Br.
1975 : Staff Club Secretary of Matunga Br.
1976 - 1978 21
st
Conference : Asst. Branch Secretary of Matunga Br.
1978 1980 22
st
Conference : Branch Secretary of Matunga Br.
1980 1982 23
rd
Conference : Executive Committee Member
1982 1985 24
rd
Conference : Assistant General Secretary
1985 1987 25
rd
Conference : Assistant General Secretary
1987 1990 26
rd
Conference : Assistant General Secretary
1990 1991 (Feb) 27rd Conference : Assistant General Secretary
On 11-02-1991 : WORKMEN DIRECTOR
Feb'91 Jul'92 : Secretary
Jul'92 1993 : General Secretary (Ag.)
25-02-2003 : WORKMEN DIRECTOR
1993 to August 10, 2014 : General Secretary


SOLIDARITY ACTIONS:

1. Participated actively in the Great Historic Bombay Textile Strike (1982-84) of 2.5 lacs workers
by organising over one thousand workers in a locality solidarity committee called Chembur
Kamgar Samithy (Ref:Book:Log Haul: Rajini Bakshi) along with Blue and White collar
workers and middle class intelligent of the locality.

2. Took vital role in organising the necessary infrastructure for unionising widely scattered
contract labourers in various small-scale industries and trades in the city of Bombay from 1984
onwards.

3. Initiated several programs for developing trade their united actions and for working class
solidarity including specific campaigns (eg: Price rise, infringement on Trade Union rights,
solidarity actions with other workers in Public and Private sectors).



SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS:

1. Education: a) Co mp l i me nt a r y classes in Maths, Statistics and Econometrics for Inter.Sc.
H.Sc. B.A., B.Sc., B.Com. Students 1972 1982

b) Book Bank

c) Adult Education programmer for the slum dwellers

d) Trade Union education secessions and material preparations for the same.
e) Compiling, writing and publishing of the Trade Union information books.
f) Author o f Kno w Your Ri ght s ( service c o n d i t i o n s ma n u a l f o r
I OBEmployees)

Preliminary edition 1980 (Hand written & cyclostyle 15 Pages)
1
st
Edition 1984 (Typed & Cyclostyle 50 Pages)
2
nd
Edition 1984 (Typed & Cyclostyle 75 Pages)
3
rd
Edition 1987 (Offset & zeroxes 150 Pages)
4
th
Edition 1989 (Printed Offset 300 Pages)
5
th
Edition 1993 (Printed Offset 462 Pages)

6
th
Edition 1997 (Printed Offset 700 Pages)
7
th
Edition 2000 (Printed Offset 650 Pages

History of All India Overseas Bank Employees Union
Know Globalization beyond Jargon
108 & IOB and many useful reference material and books on union
matters

2. Health and Hygiene : Propagation of Heath and Hygiene and preventive medicines along
with doctors of Indian Medical Association and Scientists of B.A.R.C. by
various methods including street comer campaigns, informal meetings
with unions, rigorous door to door survey for over 6 months covering 10
slums, Audio visual programmes, medical camps, Blood donation and
other drives.

3. Scientific Temper : Campaign against superstition and propaganda of Scientific Temper
along with People's Science Movement in various localities with
extensive repertoire.

4. Civil Liberties Right: Various campaigns and agitations with several Democratic rights and
Democratic Organisations.

5. Culture and Developing and campaigning for Culture and Arts for working people
Arts for People : vide street corner, selling of progressive literary and cultural magazines
books and hoisting of Street theatre plays.

6. Environment : Campaign against Industrial pollution, noise pollution in Chembur and
campaign for the victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy.


SECTIONS OF THE PEOPLE:

Students: Assisted in organising various sections of students in developing agitations for
their legitimate demands and introducing them to organisations of their interests.

Youth: (Unemployed and under employed)
Channelised scores of youth into constructive organised activities for their own

and social progress.

Women: (Wives of workers and working women)
Organised various sections of women to fight for their rights and participated in

several of their agitational and educational programs (Anti dowry campaigns,
celebration of women's day, National Women Conferences, film festivals).

Slum Working with several sections of slum dwellers at various levels of poverty and
Dwellers: recognising them as workers living in slums. Participated and attended to

numerous of their personal problems of socio economic nature.


Tribals & Organised Coffee Plantation workers at Ooty to form trade unions,
Backward Co-operatives and assisted in organising socio economic projects for backward
Communities: communities in Chengalpattu District (Madras).


Children: Conducted non informal Education classes for slum children in Bombay.




































SANKARAN SRINIVASAN
First Class at B.Sc., Maths)

As appearing in the souvenir of
South Indian Education Society College of
Arts and Science in 1973


















While working with The Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd
drawing daily wage of Rs5/- per day on working days in 1973.




























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Dharavi Asias largest slum CASA Compaign
























CASA Compaign at Dharavi mobilised 1004 CASA accounts valued
Rs. 9 crores today








































































































































































































































































































MY ALMA MATER





























First from the left,









CHINUS UNION ELIXERS
FOR THOUGHT, ACTION & SUCCESS


The Garland

Workers are like flowers. They have to be gently and delicately handled. A
flower will not attain its full grandeur unless it is allowed to blossom
fully. Workers too would not be able to reach their full heights of glory unless
they are also allowed to blossom fully.

A flower cannot be appreciated by either squeezing or crushing it. Workers also
cannot be made to be productive by either squeezing or crushing them. If every
single flower is like an individual worker, a garland of flowers is like a trade
union of workers. We all know that it is the thread which binds the individual
flowers into a garland. Similarly, it is the leadership which binds the individual
workers into a union. The leader then is like the thread.

In a good garland the thread will not be visible. It will be only the flowers that
will be prominent. Similarly, in a good trade union, the leaders would not be
prominent. It would be the workers who would be prominent and they would
have the pride of place.

This will show that just as the thread is for the garland and not the garland for
the thread, similarly, the leader will be for the union and not the union for the
leader. But today, it often seems that the union is more for the leaders than for
the workers. Unions are leader-based and the leader himself is based
somewhere else. Unions must become worker-based. Such a change should be
brought about quickly.

If in a garland only the thread is prominent and visible everywhere and not the
flowers, such a garland would look ugly. Indeed, that would then be no garland
at all. Similarly, in a union where the leaders alone are prominent and not the
workers, it would not be a real union at all.

A thread has not fragrance of its own. If it has any fragrance, it is an acquired
one and depends upon whatever fragrance the flowers give it. Similarly the
leaders acquire power from the workers.
A good garland is weighty, majestic and grand. Similarly, a good trade union
should have all these attributes. Let us therefore knit the workers into a grand,
majestic, good and beautiful union.



The Honey Bee

Industry too can be compared to a flower. Industry too requires to be handled
carefully and delicately. It has also to be enable to blossom fully without any
hindrance. We cannot get the best out of industry by squeezing or crushing it.
Flower gives honey, just as industry yields profits. The honey bee sits gently
on the flower and collects the honey a very delicate operation. The bee does not
damage at all to the flower in the process.

If the flower is the industry, the bee is the trade union. The trade union too has
to handle a very delicate operation in the process of collecting the profits from
the industry for the workers. It must sit lightly on the industry, but nevertheless
collect the workers share of the profits. It should do no damage to the industry
in the process.

Unless the bee sits on the flower to pollinate it, the flower cannot become a
fruit. Similarly unless there is a good trade union operating, the industrys
prosperity cannot grow. Indeed, the honey bee is vital to the flower for
pollination and multiplication. Similarly a good trade union is a necessity for
the industry to grow, prosper and multiply. Therefore let each trade union learn
the delicate art of extracting honey from the flower extracting the profits from
the industry in a manner that will benefit the industry, the consumer and the
worker.

Sevaks and Leaders

Gandhiji has repeatedly said that the poor and the downtrodden need sevaks to
truly serve them and uplift them. This applies to labour also. What labour
needs today are sevaks to serve and not leaders to exploit them. But we often
find people approaching labour as sevaks. They declare that they have come to
serve the workers, the poor and the downtrodden; and workers believe them.
But soon afterwards, the sevaks turn out to be leaders.

The question is, When does a sevak become a leader? A sevak becomes a
leader the moment he starts forming groups. If his real intention is to serve,
there is no need to form groups. He should serve them all alike. The moment
he starts forming group, he starts exploiting labour for his personal ends.

While as a leader he tends to exploit the workers, as a sevak he is committed to
serve them. How can you make the person who comes as a sevak remain a
sevak and not turn out to be an exploiting leader? The only way to achieve this
is for labour to be vigilant and reject the person who comes in the garb of a
sevak and turns out to be an exploiter

Free Riders

The percentage of unionization of workers even in organized industries in the
country is very small. This means that the non members are exploiting
members of the union. Members of the union pay their subscription and keep
the union alive and active. They formulate the demands, go through the process
of collective bargaining, conciliation, arbitration or adjudication or even
strikes; and after long drawn struggles are able to achieve some improvement in
the conditions of work and living of the workers. But the benefits of such
agreements or awards are available equally to the non members also. Thus the
non members, without contributing the union financially and otherwise, are
enjoying the benefits of the unions efforts. This is another form of
exploitation, exploitation of workers by workers, which is worse.

A person was traveling in a train without ticket. Unfortunately for him the
ticket collector also boarded the same compartment at the very starting
station. In the course of his examination of passengers tickets, he came to our
friend, the ticket less traveler. The ticket collector asked him for his ticket.
This man said, Sir, you are not running this train for my sake. Whether I travel
or do not travel, this train leaves Madras in the evening every day and reaches
Bangalore the next morning. Let me therefore just stand in a corner.

This is the sort of attitude of the non member of the union. He says: Whether I
pay my subscription or do not pay this union is bound to make demands,
negotiate, struggle and get something and let me also take the results. After all
my one rupee subscription is not going to matter much to the union. If all
passengers in the train take the same attitude and do not buy their tickets, the
railways will soon become bankrupt and will have to close. Similarly if every
worker adopts the same attitude and nobody pays the union subscription, the
unions also will have to wind up. Therefore, every worker must buy the union
ticket and travel in the union train with dignity and self respect. There should
be no free-riders on the union train.

It is often the ticket less traveler who gets off the train at his destination even
before the train comes to a complete halt. He is in such a great hurry. Similarly
it is the non members of the trade union, who will be the first to stretch out
their hands for receiving the benefits under the awards or agreements with the
union.

Not only that, while traveling in the train, it is sometimes the ticketless traveler
who criticizes loudly the inefficient working of the Railways and the late
running of trains. Similarly, it is the non union member who criticizes more
about the functioning of the union, the delay in the achievement of the demands

and calls whatever benefits the union is able to get as meager. This unfair
practice on the part of the labour must stop.

Just as railways invite the cooperation of the traveling public to put an end to
ticketless travel, regular paying members must also cooperate in stopping
ticketless travel in the union train and see to it that every worker becomes a
bona fide union membership holder.

Capitalist Infection

Many trade unions are sectional in their thinking. Such an attitude is not
different from the capitalist attitude. A capitalist thinks only of himself and his
profits. He does not care for the society. If a trade union thinks only about
itself and its membership and does not care for the society, it would be
behaving just like a capitalist. It is indeed a symptom of capitalist infection.

The sectional thinking must therefore give place to an integrated thinking. It
must think of the whole society and its welfare and its contribution towards
catering to this need. If trade unions, which are instruments for binging about a
social change and take the society forward towards its social objectives, do not
think of the totality, who else is going to think about the interests of the whole,
and how far the sectional thinking by unions would be consonant with their
socialist objective ?

Trade unions must, therefore, think of their social responsibility while pursuing
their own members welfare. Indeed they must so design their demands and
plan their struggles so as to harmonise them with the larger interests of the
society. If our trade unions will consciously regulate their conduct and
modernize themselves by giving up primitive methods, adopt a positive
approach banishing the negative attitudes and think in terms of totality, as
against the present sectional thinking, our countrys trade union movement will
prove worthy of our nation and its rich cultural heritage and traditions. It will
prove itself an effective instrument for the progress of not only the working
class but also of the industry and the society as a whole

Empty Goods Wagons

Imagine a long good train which has unloaded its freight and is on its way back.
These days the haulage capacity of engines has considerably increased and they
are able to haul a much larger number of wagons.

A villager saw one such train running. He did not se the engine which was far
ahead. He only saw the empty goods wagons making a lot of noise while

running on the rails. The noise was louder as the wagons were empty. The
terrific noise made by these empty wagons made the innocent villager think
that it is the wagons that were pulling the train. He could not see the engine
which was very much ahead of him.

The publicity and propaganda made by some of the negative trade unions are
like the noise made by the empty wagons. The innocent workers believe that it
is the noisy unions that are really leading the working class to its goal; for they
seldom see the union with a positive purpose dedicated to silent solid service,
which is almost out of the limelight. Detach the engine and the empty wagons
will come to a halt and the noise made the wagons will similarly come to an
end. Without the noisy unions trade union activity may appear to be dormant
and the working class stagnant. But it must be recognized that only the positive
unions with their silent work can bring lasting benefits to the working class.
The working class must, therefore, be cautious about the noisy negative unions
which cannot take it anywhere.


Honest Introspection

So much for workers and their trade unions. Now let us turn to the employers.
An employer generally gets the union he deserves. If, therefore, an employer
has a union which is negative in its approach and believes in confrontation all
the time, it may be necessary for the employer to go through a process of
honest introspection. Perhaps his own policies were mainly responsible for the
emergence of such a union and consequent poor industrial relations.

It must be remembered that unions are against any unilateral initiatives of
employers. Wherever such initiatives are resented by the union, it expresses its
resentment through protests and struggles. Employers should therefore avoid
unilateral initiatives and impositions. With some imagination it should be
possible for the employers to refashion their policies so as to get the desirable
reaction from the union.


Fairland Firm

Often employers attitudes are unpredictable. Their reaction to the same or
similar development is never the same. It varies from time to time. Sometimes
employers act firmly and at other times they act leniently. Labour does not
know when the employers will be firm or when they will be lenient.
Sometimes employers are fair but not firm. Some other times they are firm but

not fair. Rarely they are both fair and firm. If only they are both at the same
time, unions will be able to adjust their moves accordingly.

Often the basic problem in industrial relations is the lack of
credibility. Sometime, employers say one thing and act differently. In
collective bargaining they begin by making out a strong case for reducing the
existing levels of wages and other benefits and finally end up by agreeing to
give more. Their attempt to over play the case often reduces their credibility.

They do not tell the workers anything about the financial condition of the
industry until the time of negotiations over workers demands. That makes the
employers story incredible as a mere counter blast. Employers should keep the
workers informed from time to time about the economics of the industry,
present and future. They should not wait for the workers to make their
demands. That will help the workers to formulate their demands intelligently.
An employer, who keeps his workers in the dark about the real capacity of the
industry to pay, has no right to complain about extravagant demands by the
workers.


In Reverse Gear

Employers should be careful in selecting the person from whom they would be
seeking advice on labour matters. They have experts in material management,
production management, marketing management and financial management.
Even so they have their Personnel Managers. Their advice should not be
negative. It should be positive and oriented towards a new culture. These
advisers should realize that labour laws are enacted for the welfare of the
workers. The Personnel Manager should interpret the law in favour of the
workers. Whenever two interpretation are possible, the one in favour of the
workers should be chosen and not the one against them; for that could not have
been the intention of the legislature in labour welfare legislations.

For example, let us take the legislation providing for Equal Pay for Equal
Work. The intention of the legislation is quite obvious, viz. whether man or
woman, if the work done by him or her is the same, the remuneration should
also be the same. There should be no discrimination between them if they do
the same work. Suppose an employers was paying lower wages for his women
workers than his men workers although the work done by them was the same.

When the union pointed out this legislation and appealed to the employer to
pay the women workers equal pay for equal work, the employer cannot respond
by reducing the mens wages to that of the women. If he acts on advice to that

effect, such advice is wrong and against the intention of the legislature. He will
then be going in the reverse gear by misinterpreting the law. Employers should
develop forward looking policies and place themselves in the position of the
workers to appreciate their stand and try to accommodate it as fare as possible.


Trustees All

Indeed participative management arises from the acceptance of the Gandhian
Principle of Trusteeship. Gandhiji did not stop with saying that employers
should function as trustees of their employees. The trusteeship theory is not a
one way street. It is a two way street. Therefore employers and employees must
function mutually as trustees of each other and jointly as trustees of the
community. The community in turn must act as a trustee of both employers and
employees. Thus the trusteeship principle is all pervading.

By conceding to labour its right to participate in management of industries,
labour also ahs to share the headaches of the management. It status not doubt is
lifted up from that of a wage serf to that of a partner in industry. It will bring a
sense of belonging to labour and its identification with the industry. It will
ensure greater and sincere cooperation between the two. But such cooperation
is not to be utilized by each partner merely to improve his own conditions. The
effect of such cooperation should be reflected in better services to the
community with quality goods and services at reasonable cost.

Some people want participative management to be enforced by law. I do not
think this is a wise suggestion. Participative management should be brought
about by intellectual conviction and change of attitudes. It should be a
voluntary effort. As I had stated earlier we are already over legislated and yet
an other legislation will not improve matters.

Looking at it from another angle, participative management is industrial
democracy in action. We have achieved political democracy which gives
equality in the matter of voting rights to every adult citizen, rich or poor. But
political democracy is not an end in itself. It should be a means to economic
democracy. The growing disparities in income and earnings among the
individuals and groups must be narrowed down and that would be the hall mark
of economic democracy. In order to achieve economic democracy, one way is
industrial democracy. Participative Management is industrial democracy in
action.

The dictatorial behaviour of the employer / management will be diluted and
democratized by means of participative management which gives the workers

the right of co-determination. There will be no more managerial prerogatives. It
will be all shared prerogatives


Close the Gap

Now that we are at the end let me add a little post script.

The reader would have found by now that I have not said anything new.
Perhaps most of what I had said is already known.

It is easy to advise, but difficult to practice. That is why most of us do not
practice what we preach. In this too, I am aware of my own limitations.
Problems arise mostly because we lack the necessary will to practice what we
profess. Indeed there is a growing gap between what we preach and what we
practice. If this gap is closed, perhaps the world will be a far better place to live
in. Industrial relations too will be happier and harmonious.

We do not hesitate to advise others. I myself am not free from this malady. And
if proof is necessary this book itself is one I am conscious of this. But I find no
alternative.

If only each one of us will undergo some honest introspection and try to
practice what we profess, the solution to our problems will become easy and
natural. Indeed many of them may not survive as problems. But in this work a
day world. How far will it be practicable with most of us?

Gandhiji laid great stress on the twin principles of truth and non violence.
These were not invented by him. They were there long before Gandhiji was
born. Only he tried to practice them. He made his whole life an experiment
with truth That was why any advice by Gandhiji left a deep impression on all.
If the quality of life of our people have to improve they must have an effective
leadership. Therefore the reform must start with the leaders.

Fit to Lead

People still respect sadhus. People believe that they provide solutions to the
various problems encountered by them. The sadhu is believed to cure sickness,
predict fortunes, drive away evil spirits and give solace and mental peace and
blessings. Such is the faith of the people in our sadhus.


One such sadhu visited a small town. Soon the news of his arrival spread to all
the village around. People came to him in large numbers with their problems
seeking solution and solace.

An old woman from a remote village also heard about this sadhu. She came to
see him all the way from the village with her little grandson who persisted in
eating jaggery all the time. She feared the boy might soon fall ill. She though
perhaps the sadhu might do something for the boy. After standing in the long
queue for hours she at last got her chance.

She narrated to the sadhu how her little grandson was eating jaggery all the
time and how she feared the boy might soon fall ill if he went on eating jaggery
at this rate. She requested him to find a solution for her boys problem. The
sadhu listened to her and asked her to come and see him the next day with the
boy.

The old woman trudged back to her village and came again the following day
with her little grandson. Again the long queue and at last her turn. She
repeated her boys case to the sadhu. The sadhu remembered the case only too
well. He immediately called the boy and said to him Boy, dont eat jaggery
hereafter. Then he turned to the old woman and told her Now you can go.
The old woman was understandably furious. She told the sadhu, You could
have told this to the boy yesterday itself. Why did you make me and the poor
child come again today and make us walk back and forth from our village for
this? The sadhu smiled and replied, Mother, till yesterday I was myself
eating jaggery. And if I had asked the boy yesterday not to eat jaggery any
more, it would not have had any effect on him. Since you came and explained
to me this case yesterday, I first stopped eating jaggery myself. And now I
have advised him not to eat jaggery, it will have some effect on him.

Similarly, a leader who advises and guides the people in whatever walks of life
must himself practise his own beliefs. Only then he is fit to lead.

Our Union is river, lake, ocean, and sky: Man breaks not the medal, when God
cuts the die! Though darkened with sulphur, though cloven with steel, the blue
arch will brighten, the waters will heal!

The union of lakes--the union of lands-- The union of States none can sever--
The union of hearts--the union of hands-- And the flag of our Union for ever!
A successful team is a group of many hands but of one mind.

A team with a star player is a good team, but a team without one is a great
team.


Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together
is success.

Solidarity forever, solidarity forever
Solidarity forever
For the Union makes us strong

NONE OF US IS ABOVE ALL OF US