That's part of my Gtalk status today. The inability of the (allegedly) Marxist JVP and (supposedly) the main opposition UNP to mobilize enough 'working class' for the country-wide strike today told it's own story. Truth be told, thanks to the financial might of the Rajapakse administration, both opposition parties have been rendered useless. Their own incompetence doesn't help them either.
I'm more than happy, if this signals the demise of the JVP. Which, I think it does to some degree. We will have to wait till the next parliamentary election to see whether the party can be resurrected, most right-minded Sri Lankans will be hoping it doesn't.
The other part of my status was asking Mahinda to fire the workers. This is partly to provoke a JVPer on my list. In reality, despite my constant complaints about this world's largest government, I don't advocate one-day reforms. The last time JR Jayawardene did this, some 30 workers , I'm told, committed suicide.
Now I'm no fan of trade unions, but their existence, or powerfulness is because their wage is a function of political power rather than market forces. You don't see three-wheeler drivers going on strike nor do you see people at McDonald's on strike or really, any private sector workers on strike all that often. We all know, what needs to be done. But where are the incentives?
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