Bribery always existed in the Indian system (It is actually an universal phenomenon). We have to bribe people at different levels to get our work done or to get our deal across the table. We have accepted it into our system. Nowadays a new practice has started in Kerala under the name “Nokku Coolie”. This is a practice where the worker unions charge you labor costs without doing the work. I had recently come across this practice in an article (May 6-12 Outlook Magazine) where the head-load workers charged the Vikram Sarabhai Space Research Organization for the machinery that was brought in. Machinery that would weigh in tons and cannot even carried by the laborer.
Initially Nokku Coolie was considered as a sort of compensation for the opportunity lost due to automation coming in, but now it is a daily practice in Kerala. It was only recently that the government got concerned with this ludicrous practice. I have read a blog by SR Nair where he praises the beauty of this practice and calls it smart work . But I somehow feel that this practice will eventually curtail the growth of the state (No offence to SR Nair, its his view, and his article is well crafted). Many cashew-processing companies have already shifted their operations from Kerala to Tamil Nadu where the wage levels are low. In one of the case, the government had an overhead cost of Rs.3000 per laborer for installing turbines, each weighing 80 tons with the help of a crane in a windmill farm. The above two examples tells us the negative impact of such a practice. All this leads us to one question. What is the exact purpose of labor unions? Are they doing the right thing by charging Nokku Coolie?
Labor unions existed as early as the eighteenth century with their objective as protecting their members by providing them various benefits. Benefits like better wages, working environment, working hours, medical insurance etc. And it has been observed over the years that an union member gets a higher pay then his contemporary non union member because of the political strength that vests in the hands of the unions. For e.g. A Canadian Labour Union member earns $5 more per hour ( www.canadianlabour.ca ).
With this background on the purpose of labor unions, let us look into the second question. Are they doing the right thing? Labour unions have always been accused of benefiting the inside workers when compared to the unemployed. A second criticism is that labor unions play a monopoly and has the same negative effects as any other monopolies I.e. raising prices and decreasing efficiency. The Nokku Coolie is clearly an example of the second case. The monopoly that is created by the worker unions in Kerala has lead to increase in operations cost, in turn increasing the production cost and leading to a decrease in efficiency. As it is having a negative effect on the economy, I shall hold that Nokku Coolie isn’t the correct practice.
And now the inevitable question arises. What is the alternate source of income for these workers? And this is where we reach a dead lock. If I knew the solution or indeed if the government knew the immediate solution, Nokku Coolie would have never existed. A long term solution might be that whenever there are new manual labor intensive jobs available, the government might give these people a priority on hiring. But, will any worker be willing to leave this haven of “no work, but get paid”. I leave this task of convincing people and get them working to Pinarayi (CPI-M leader) and the CM of Kerala, V.S. Achuthanandan.
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