The Government Employees’ Strike

Summary

This 1968 Swatantra Party pamphlet brings together two Lok Sabha speeches on the September 19 government employees’ strike. M. R. Masani argues that the strike was politically motivated and unjustified, while distinguishing the right to strike enjoyed by commercial government employees from the restrictions appropriate to police, armed forces, and public servants whose work is essential to civil life. N. Dandekar similarly rejects the description of the action as a harmless “token strike,” stressing its potential to disrupt communications, transport, and the wider economy.

Both speeches nevertheless acknowledge the legitimacy of employees’ grievances, especially the demand for a need-based minimum wage. They criticize government economic management, inflation, excessive expenditure, and the absence of binding arbitration procedures. They also call for judicial inquiry into police excesses connected with the Indraprastha Estate incident, arguing that support for the government’s handling of the strike does not require defending abuses of law enforcement.