May Day and Mayday

Saturday 1st May, 2021

This year’s International Workers’ Day has dawned while the global population is grappling with an unprecedented health emergency, which has taken a heavy toll on the world of work. More than 114 million people reportedly lost their jobs the world over, in 2020, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The International Labour Organisation says the working hours lost, last year, were equivalent to 225 million full-time jobs and caused a staggering loss of labour income to the tune of USD 3.7 trillion. It does not expect the global working hours to return to the pre-pandemic levels in the current year. This is an extremely worrisome proposition for workers across the globe. The actual situation may turn out to be far worse than the projections—absit omen!

Sri Lankan politicians who usually steal the limelight and reduce workers to mere spectators and/or cheer leaders at mega political events that pass for labour rallies, on May Day, must be really disappointed. All efforts made in various quarters, during the last so many decades, to convince the Sri Lankan workers that they must discontinue the shameful practice of serving as palanquin bearers for politicians at least on the day dedicated to their cause were in vain. They could not help grovelling before politicians on May Day. Ironically, a virus has succeeded where pro-working-class intellectuals have failed; workers do not have to put on a toe-curling show of servility, today.

Workers will lose nothing owing to the cancellation of the May Day rallies. In fact, they will benefit tremendously therefrom, instead; they will not be exposed to the runaway virus unnecessarily. Mass gatherings, amidst a pandemic, are a recipe for disaster. If the May Day political events had been held, as previously planned, they would definitely have boosted the transmission of Covid-19, and workers and their loved ones would have been the victims. (Their political masters have received both doses of the vaccine to ward off the virus, we are told.)

There are, of course, some political leaders who have fought for the rights of workers, but they are the exception that proves the rule; almost all of them represent leftist parties, which are no longer remembered by the working class for their service. Workers are attracted to patronage-based politics and populist agendas of the main political parties.

The challenge before Sri Lanka is to figure out how to minimise economic losses caused by the health emergency, especially the pandemic control measures that entail huge socio-economic costs such as job losses. The only way out is to enhance national production despite the setbacks the country has suffered on the health and economic fronts. This calls for dedication and commitment on the part of all stakeholders besides innovative thinking plus technological inputs. The virus has turned all existing economic models on their heads and left even the powerful economies disoriented. The US has had to introduce a 1.9-trillion-dollar stimulus package, which is likely to help straighten up the American economy or at least arrest its downward slide. Huge relief packages are a luxury that Sri Lanka cannot afford. Hence the pressing need to explore all other avenues to prevent the further deterioration of its battered economy. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has reportedly said that in 2020, owing to the pandemic, the country experienced the worst recession since Independence with its economy contracting by 3.6% in real terms.

The Asian Development Outlook 2021, the annual flagship publication put out by the Asian Development Bank, forecasts an economic rebound for Sri Lanka, whose economic growth has been projected to reach 4.1% in 2021, and then drop to 3.6% next year. The ADB projection is somewhat uplifting, but whether the projected growth rate for the current year is attainable is dependent on how effectively the pandemic is tackled. If the country goes into another round of crippling lockdowns with the mortality rate skyrocketing, the growth projections will see a downward revision. Even if the country manages to maintain the present growth momentum, it will be hard put to enhance its economic performance next year to raise the growth rate above 3.6%, which is woefully insufficient.

What is needed at this hour of unprecedented crisis is for the political leaders, employers and workers/trade unionists to put their heads together and plan for the future, which looks bleak, given the ever-worsening pandemic situation and the attendant economic crises. This is an uphill task that requires extraordinary promptitude and foresight. Let this be their May Day resolution.