BANGALORE PUBLIC-SECTOR STRIKE, 1980-81 - A CRITICAL-APPRAISAL .2. THE STRIKE

The longest and costliest conflict in the history of the public sector in India, the Bangalore public sector strike of 1980-81 possessed a n umber of characteristics specific to it. The confrontation directly pi tted the unions against the government and that too the central govern ment which could deploy the full might of all the institutions of stat e power to smash the workers' resistance. This would have a decisive i nfluence on the nature and outcome of the struggle. Secondly, even tho ugh generalised and massive, the strike was above all an affair of the leadership. Beyond a few symbolic agitations, the Joint Action Front made no serious attempt to draw the mass of workers into the struggle. This again would have an important effect on the distribution of powe r between the two sides during the course of the struggle. Thirdly, th e strike remained, by and large, extremely peaceful despite the highly aggressive attitude of the government in the later stages of the conf lict. Finally, this was the first time in the country that a collectiv e leadership coming from different political horizons was leading such a large strike and for such a long period. From start to finish, the workers' representatives manifested a remarkable degree of unity and a llowed no dissensions to trouble the organisation and co-ordination of the struggle. The paper is divided into two parts. Part I, published last week, analysed the two settlements that were concluded by the man agement and unions in 1973 and 1978 in the five Bangalore companies an d BHEL-settlements that lay at the heart of the 1980-81 strike. Part I I, below, is devoted to a review of the strike in all its multiple and varied aspects.