WORK ETHIC

Leading Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has recently condemned the British work ethics and expressed his surprise at the attitudes of previous management at the British steel-maker Corus and car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which he bought in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Speaking about the previous bosses, he told "It's a work-ethic issue. In my experience, in both Corus and JLR, nobody is willing to go the extra mile, nobody. I feel if you have come from Bombay to have a meeting and the meeting goes till 6pm, I would expect that you won't, at 5 o'clock, say, 'Sorry, I have my train to catch. I have to go home. Friday, from 3.30pm, you can't find anybody in their office. The worker in JLR seems to be willing to do that; the management is not."

He went on to describe things in India by saying, "If you are in a crisis, if it means working to midnight, you would do it."

So, in the year of 125th anniversary of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, in the month of May 2011 after successful observation of May Day throughout the world, India's one of the top most industrialists, has made it clear as to what is "work ethic". By his own statement, he described working from morning 9.00 till midnight is the work ethic expected of a worker and leaving office by 5.00 pm is "unethical", which is nothing but a mockery of the very meaning of May Day and the workers' right for 'eight hour work' for which Haymarket workers have sacrificed their lives one and a quarter century back. 

Business community is now out in the open and so daringly let the working community and the trade unions know that their rights are no more guaranteed. This daring statement comes in the background of vicious demands from different quarters for "Six-Hour Day, Five-Day Week, 48-Week Year" and "four-hour day" by different groups.

So, what the trade unions are going to do for this? How the working class is going to face this open onslaught against the workers' right? Why trade unions are silent about this?