Babu P. Remesh is Associate Fellow, V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, and Coordinator, Integrated Labour History Research Programme & Archives of Indian Labour. Email: neetbabu@rediffmail.com. (Babu P. Remesh)
The Genesis
In the history of the workers` movement in
The story of the origins of KDB is worth recounting. In northern Kerala, the socialists, and later the communists, led the freedom struggle; class struggle was part of the freedom movement. In this process, the beedi workers of Malabar developed an activist and democratic consciousness. As early as 1934, a trade union of beedi workers, the Kannur Beedi Thozhilali Union, was formed. A critical event was the General Strike of 1937 called by the union to press for a charter of demands for beedi workers. The strike was withdrawn after 38 days with very little gain to the workers. However, it was an important step in raising the consciousness and political awareness of the workers. It was also remarkable for the solidarity provided by the peasants to the industrial workers. One of the demands of the union was that the workers be allowed to read when they are not actually at work. It became a practice (one that continued at KDB) for workers to take turns at reading newspapers and books aloud to their co-workers. Another turning point was the strike of 1946, which led to a visible restructuring of the industry.
In 1966, due to the constant struggles of beedi workers in the region, led by the veteran communist and trade union leader, A.K. Gopalan, the central government passed the Beedi and Cigar Workers` Conditions of Employment Act. This was certainly a milestone in the working class struggle in
The period from 1969 to 1990 was the golden age of KDB. During this period, it grew to a major and model cooperative venture, employing nearly 42,000 workers. Unlike the private sector beedi workers elsewhere in
The superior terms of work at KDB also included: the option for working in flexible schedule (workers could work 7:00 to 4:00 or 8:00 to 5:00); guaranteed lunch and tea breaks; healthy and comfortable seating arrangements; clean, ventilated and properly lighted work area; more free space to move around; sanitary, water-sealed latrines; and arrangements for cleaning themselves at the end of the working day. Besides, the workers enjoyed holidays, leave, pension benefits, maternity leave, etc., as in any public enterprise. Further, at KDB, the workers could borrow from the cooperative`s own `thrift fund` at no interest, with repayment being automatically deducted from their pay over an extended period.
KDB represents one of the world`s largest and most successful experiments in industrial democracy. It has been operating as a federated structure with 22 primary societies spread across Kannur, Kasargode and
Workers in each of the 22 primary cooperatives elect a 7-member board of directors from among their own ranks. These directors take decisions on the day-to-day operations of the cooperative. The worker-elected director board negotiates benefits with KDB`s trade unions. There were several unions among beedi workers with different political affiliations. When KDB was formed, it brought together workers from different unions, and the success of KDB showed that union differences could be overcome to achieve a concrete developmental task. Team spirit and worker solidarity were stronger than political rivalry.
KDB workers have also made significant advances towards genuine workplace democracy, by following a creative mix of workplace empowerment and workplace supervision. Supervisors are mostly drawn from shop floor workers. They are paid only slightly more than the workers they supervise. They are subject to effective union grievance procedures and are themselves under the supervision of directors elected by the workers they supervise. The directors receive pay slightly below that of shop floor workers, and some directors continue to roll beedis as their main source of income. Further, in place of the fines and fraud of the private sector, KDB has evolved a system of prizes, and has limited wage inequality to engender sufficient supervision to maintain an adequate amount of shop floor discipline.
The KDB Workers` Cooperative Society is currently in doldrums. After 37 years of existence, the cooperative faces a severe crisis due to multiple reasons. On the one hand, while the production costs of Dinesh beedi are mounting, there is a visible dip in the sales front. Fake Dinesh beedis and other cheap brands from neighbouring states have captured a significant proportion of the domestic beedi market. The cooperative is also facing stiff competition from low-cost filter cigarettes and other cheap brands of beedis especially those from the unorganised sector in the Kasargode-Mangalore region. The escalations in exercise duty have been another burden for KDB. Yet another set of factors that underlined the decline is the reduced demand for beedis, since the 1990s. The health awareness campaign against smoking, the impact of the anti-tobacco legislation and the ban on smoking in public have led to the decline in number of smokers, especially those belonging to the younger generation.
The mounting crisis in the beedi market has forced the management to diversify its product base, initially to pickles, umbrellas and processed food. Currently, the KDB management runs or plans to run hypermarkets, IT hubs and high-end professional colleges and so on, to weather the crisis. However, all these efforts have not brought much results and the management, in the recent past, resorted to the introduction of austerity measures such as job cuts and a freeze on gratuity and bonus.
The revival of KDB from its present crisis is extremely relevant as it has strong lessons that proclaim the strength of worker solidarity and industrial democracy. More stringent action against trade mark violations; state support for diversification programmes; the implementation of uniform zonal wages; and exemptions for the cooperatives from excise duty can contribute to the rejuvenation of one of the most remarkable workers` cooperative experiments in the country. The present government of Kerala has allocated Rs 4 crores in the current year`s budget for KDB`s new diversification plans and has shown interest in preparing and implementing a package to restructure KDB. These positive gestures are welcome steps towards rejuvenating KDB.
(Courtesy: T.M. Thomas Isaac, Richard W. Franke and Pyaralal Raghavan (1998): Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative: The Story of Kerala Dinesh Beedi Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London)