Lessons from a Mass Movement in Bihar

collective bargaining on wage claims in the public sector are naturally queering the pitch on the industrial relations front in the public sector. There is naturally turmoil on this front in the wake of the government's provocative moves. If the government is counting on its political- penal powers to deal with the industrial actions of the workers it is going to make matters worse. The complacency arising from the relatively peaceful state of industrial relations in recent years, when more mandays in work places have been lost due to lock-outs by employers than strikes of workers, will be misplaced in this context. The capacity of the organised workers for action cannot be wished away by those in high places. They will have to reckon with the workers' response as attacks on workers' rights to fair wage and job security gather strength as part of the privatisation policy of the government.