It is a fact that the entire labour force is being misled by uneducated union leaders that liberalisation would benefit only the wealthy but the working classes stand to lose even the present benefits. The root cause of the electricity workers' strike in Uttar Pradesh and parts of north India is this fear.
Liberalisation means privatisation.
Which means smart entrepreneurs are provided with chance of making huge profits at the expense of workers. The nationwide strike by port workers is no exception. Again the purblind union leaders have been spreading the fiction that unless port workers strike now and wrest some wage increase and other benefits, it will be too late. In the wake of centre's decision to lease out airports, some of the unions fear that a similar decision on ports will not be far behind. Having said this, it must be emphasised that the government has not done anything to project the human face of the economic reforms which was the bane of Manmohan Singh's exercise in this field.