When the media mediates In the name of neutrality…

Before I venture into writing about the death of the Pricol HR manager at the hands of workers of the same firm, let me qualify that I am against any kind of violence- unorganised or organised; orchestrated by the state or by individuals. I condemn violence. However, when I read the reports of the incident in the various newspapers, I got the feeling that the ‘lumpen proletariat’ killed an innocent person without any provocation. More than the company, the newspapers painstakingly explained the gory incident and that it happened without any provocation; the slain Roy George was too good; understood the workers and interacted with them individually about their problems. Even if he was not, the murder was not justified.

This is the second incident in India, in recent times. The first one happened in an Italy based MNC located in Noida almost a year back.

Well. If you dig a little bit further, the other side of the story will also appear. It seems that the company Pricol was not very worker-friendly. Apart from transferring many workers to Uttarakhand, it has also laid off many workers; some of them had worked for more than 20 years in the company; and at least half that number of years left before they retired. They were agitating for the last 2 years against the company hiring contract labour.

Thanks to the liberalisation and globalisation, many workers have either lost their job or are having to work as contract labourers; the principle of hire and fire at will has been made easy.

While my sympathies are with the bereaved family, my thoughts are with the workers who were arbitrarily laid off. To find another job immediately is a grim probability as the job market is messy. What will happen to their families? Will they be able to meet with their basic needs? What will happen to the education of their children, perhaps the first generation learners in those families?

I know the case of a worker whose case is being fought by Krishna in the labour court. He was thrown out of his job in 1989; 20 years ago and still fighting against the management and his case is being shunted from one court to another all these years. All these to get his job or legitimate compensation. The case is still on; from the labour court to the Madras High Court and now back to the labour court. God only knows as to how long it will take for him to get his money. Hopefully, he may get it in his own life time. I felt the trauma of the worker.

Let us look in to the other side of the story too. A negotiation, on equal footing with the workers, not victimisation, is the solution. How much I wish the media is neutral than taking the side of the rich. Memories of how the media focussed so much on the Taj Hotel and the Oberoi Towers and so little or even nothing was said about those who perished at the Mumbai Central station are fresh in my mind even now.