Strike – The Last Resort
The other day there was a report in the newspaper: a man had died on the steps of a hospital due to lack of medical care. Ironically, he was a patient of that very hospital, and had just been moved out of the ward. How is it that not a single doctor, nurse, attendant in a sprawling, busy hospital came forward to help assist the unfortunate individual? The reason is simple. That particular day the hospital staff was on strike.
Strike – the very word conveys action -usually negative or violent, like an attack, a forceful blow, or collision. But in the case just described, ‘strike’ implies stoppage of work in order to be heard, or to ensure that one’s demands are met.
Workers all over the world use this method to try and compel their employers to agree to their demands or requirements. Earlier, it was generally factory workers or labourers who `went on strike’ to get better pay or justice. They used this step only as a last resort, when everything else – talks, letters – failed. Today, however, it seems to have become a fashion or trend with employees in all kinds of occupations. They go on strike at the very drop of a hat, sometimes for weeks, even months on end, without weighing the consequences of their actions. They fail to realize that a strike is more than a protest – it is a loss to the nation in terms of work, money and time – none of which can be retrieved.
The worst consequence of a strike is the inconvenience to the public, the common man who is deprived of service he cannot, or should not, do without. And, as we have seen in the case of the hospital, this form of protest can strike so hard that it even leads to loss of life. Imagine a scenario where all milkmen were to strike, even for a day. How many infants would go without their essential diet? Could this loss in their growth really be justified? What if all teachers decided to strike against work? Besides the yawning gap in learning that this would create, students would come to believe that it is an accepted practice, and even emulate them later in life. This would only create a vicious cycle, generation after generation, benefiting nobody in particular, while harming many.
A strike must remain what it was meant to be the very last resort in negotiation. Differences ought to be sorted out across the table between employers and employees before they out of hand. This will bring about greater harmony their organizations and cause minimum inconvenience and suffering to the people at large.
