Pali brick kiln workers struggle – A retreat and emerging challenges The brick kiln workers in Pali had held a series of meetings that culminated in a call for strike on 1st March. The strike was successful for the first two days. However by the time workers gathered on 4th, majority of the workforce had been threatened or cajoled back to work as reported in the last update. On 5th, the employers did not turn up for the meeting at the office of the Labor Department. Three cases were produced before the Labor Department. It cooperated for the first time and the Labor Inspector rang up the brick kiln owners asking them or one should say almost requesting them to settle. However the employers played hard ball. None of the employers settled next day. In the case of bonded laborer that was filed, a lower ranking official did go to the brick kiln in question for rescue, however the kiln owner did not release the goat that had been confiscated by him in lieu of the bonded debt. A large group of local workers comprising of 23 workers now wanted to leave the kiln but the employer wanted the bonded debt to be deposited. On 8th October, the employers gheraoed the Union team in a public part and gave violent threats. On 10th, the group of workers who wanted to leave the kiln filed an application for release from bondage with the District Magistrate Pali. However there was no action. The application was passed down the chain till it reached the desk of the lowest ranking official, the naib tehsildar. When the Union team approached him on 11th for action, he flatly refused to do anything. He accused the Union instead of disturbing peace and threatened action. During the next two days, all the workers had to manage the amount being asked for by the employer to be able to leave the kiln. Some workers had positive amounts with the employer. He did not pay up this. It has turned out to be a retreat for the Union. To some extent it was the result of bad timing as the action was planned late in the season. However this is also because Pali is a much more feudal area than the Union has worked in so far. Most of the brick kiln owners are feudal elements and their writ runs in the area. The almost complete refusal of the official machinery to act against the owners is testament to this fact. The Government official who went to release the bonded labor got up from his cot when the owner came in. The Union has now filed complaints with the State Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. It is also exploring options of litigation at the High Court level. However more importantly, the Union is faced with the issue of facing violence at the ground level. At Bhilwara and again at Pali, the brick kiln owners are resorting to threat of violence and also actual violence to resist the Union and makes its workers immobile. They are already gathering together at the state level and comparing their respective experience. They are aided by the official machinery at various levels. The challenge before the Union is now to meet this violence. Unless it is able to meet this violence at the ground level, it will not be able to survive.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 12:33:53 +0000
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