In a struggle that showcases a rare victory of sorts against the increasing deregulation of labour in an era of monopoly capitalism, GFTU successfully fought against the contractualization of the workforce in Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. What makes the victory particularly relevant to labour’s fight against the machinations of capital is that it was done through a combination of legal battles in the courtroom and militant struggle at the factory gate.
The Intas Pharma union was formed in December 2003, and on Jan 28th 2004, Intas tried to hit back refusing to employ all the contract workers and issued a lockout. This action gave a platform for workers to militantly resist the company’s oppressive tactics. Intas, in an attempt to break the union, continued with the lockout until Feb 2nd 2004. After being forced to lift the lockout, they continued to victimize the workmen in order to break the union. The workers went on a strike, and the union went on a militant offensive when management tried to resist. Stones were thrown at the factory gates, and violence ensued between management and workers.
The union had to use very creative language when going on strike because of the increasingly anti-labour legislations being passed in the country today. They had to be careful about the way the strike was worded, yet had to wage a militant agitation on behalf of the workers.
16 workers were arrested because of injuries caused to the company security officer, and were released on bail only after he was released from hospital. All 16 were terminated from the workforce. This was another move by management to break the union, as the main leadership of the union was targetted, and an attempt was made by the company to get the courts to deem the strike as illegal. Through a battle, now waged on the legal front, the union got the High Court to issue an order saying that a peaceful agitation could continue at the gates, dealing another blow to management.
The union, through the legal team of the GFTU, attempted another mechanism under labour law. An interim relief application was filed under the Industrial Tribunal. The tribunal issued two directives for management to take back the workers into full employment and with proper wages as per the contract settlement. After that, the union took up the cases of the 16 workmen who were fired. In between, management made yet another attempt to break the union by pushing for second settlements with a section of the contract workers. The union however did not buckle under pressure, and remained firm.
In a rare reversal of labour deregulation through struggle, under increasing pressure from the union led by GFTU, management gave permanent positions to 90 out of 540 workers, and the union has now filed for the rest to be absorbed as permanent staff and get paid technician-level wages, at around Rs12,000 per month. The victory is particularly relevant considering that the majority of the workforce are working-class Dalits, who fought against the double-whammy of caste and class oppression.
This struggle represents a tiny, yet important, example of the fact that even with increasing pressure on labour in an age of monopoly capitalism, militant unions who remain firm to fighting for labour’s emancipation and don’t go down a revisionist path of class-reconciliation can still beat the tide and reverse capital’s marauding march.
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