State and Rights of Labour

1
State and Rights of Labour

• 18th October, 2008

2
Human Labour

• Labour activity of human beings in interaction
  with Nature and the products of past labour, to
  produce material needs of society
• Labour adds value every year (GDP) of which one
  part comes back to those who labour while the
  other part is pocketed by those who own capital
  (as profit, interest, rent, etc.)
• Two major labouring classes (i) working class,
  and (ii) peasantry and other petty bourgeoisie or
  'self-employed'

3
Working Class

• Working class consists of those who do not own
  any means of production, and earn a wage or
  salary by selling their labour power
• Workers are not slaves they do not belong to
  their employer what they sell is only their
  capacity to work for a certain length of time
  (rest of the time is their own)

4
Definition of Rights

• Bourgeoisie defines Rights as something that can
  be given or taken away by the government of the
  day
• Working class defines Rights as existing
  independent of anybody's will they have to be
  respected and protected from being violated
• Human needs must be fulfilled as a matter of
  right, as a matter of obligation of society

5
Rights of Workers

• A wage or salary earning worker has the right to
  limit the working day
• All workers have the right to compensation for
  rise in cost of living (today it is recognised
  for only a minority)
• Rights of workers include compensation for
  accidents at work, weekly and annual leave,
  maternity paternity leave, equal pay for equal
  work, retirement benefit, etc.

6
Rights of Workers (contd.)

• Right to organize, to form unions
• Right to strike, i.e. withhold their labour
• As members of society, workers have
• Right to elect and be elected
• Right to education, health, food, shelter, etc.

7
Right to Prosperity

• Those who work (workers and peasants) and
  produce the material needs of society, have the
  right to receive their share in the social
  product
• They have legitimate claim to share in the social
  surplus, which means to receive more than what
  they need to reproduce themselves at the same
  level ? those who work have right to prosperity

8
Violation of Rights

• Rights of workers, as workers, are not recognised
  and respected in the laws of our country today
• Workers are divided into organised and
  unorganised, industry and other sectors, male and
  female workers and only a small minority enjoys
  rights even on paper
• For many workers rights remain only on paper
  they are not fulfilled, not guaranteed and
  enforced by the State

9
Definition of State

• State is an organ of class rule it is not an
  instrument to reconcile class interests
• It is a system of institutions and mechanisms for
  enforcing the will of the ruling class
• In a capitalist society, the State serves a
  minority class, the bourgeoisie and suppresses
  the majority

10
Pillars of the State

• Bureaucracy (including labour dept.)
• Armed forces police, army, paramilitary
• Judiciary courts, jails

11
Indian State

• Organ of the rule of Indian capitalist class
• Central state serves big monopoly capitalists
  (Tatas, Ambanis, etc.), while regional
  bourgeoisie accommodated at state level
• Continuation of colonial state -- an instrument
  to facilitate maximum plunder, suppress nations
• Political process enables parties financed by the
  bourgeoisie to rule and exclude the people from
  the power to make decisions.

12
Right to Rule

• As creator of social wealth, those who work have
  the right to rule
• Only a state that represents the common political
  will of working class, in alliance with peasants
  and other petty bourgeoisie, can guarantee the
  rights of labour
• Working class needs to create its own state