Now that the dust has settled on the so-called July 10 ``general strike,’’ and competing claims of total flop and 70% success are being made by the rival contenders, it will be useful to make an assessment of an event that will hopefully remain a thing of the past. There was certainly no widespread crippling of public utilities, no violence of feared proportions and life went on normally in most parts of the country with a hiccup or two in some places. The vast majority will be duly grateful for this mercy at a time that the daily struggle to make ends meet has become a worsening nightmare for most people. President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government freely admit that a realistic wage increase is necessary. But the government lacks the resources to grant it although it cynically keeps blasting public funds on projects like Mihin Air and the forthcoming SAARC extravaganza which Colombo is hosting out of turn.

Noises are now being made about punishing the strikers. Threats of sacking casual employees in the public sector who kept away from work, covertly made in the run-up to the strike, are now being made openly. There was a newspaper report yesterday that permanent employees who struck work will be asked to show cause. We hope that the government will refrain from such ill-advised fist shaking. Its more senior leaders are very well aware of the hardship that those they led into the July 1980 strike during the heyday of the J.R. Jayewardene regime had to suffer when that government summarily dismissed tens of thousands of state employees. What was demanded then was a pittance of Rs. 300 compared to the Rs. 5,000 a month demand of today. But money value then and now is vastly different and the government appears willing to grant a Rs. 1,000 settlement almost right away – maybe in time for the forthcoming provincial council elections.

Although the UNP has never had a history of being seriously trade union or worker oriented, President Jayewardene knew the value of creating and holding a powerful trade union base. When the electorate dealt him an undreamed of five sixths parliamentary majority in 1977, he moved to strengthen his party’s Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya particularly in the public sector, obviously as a counter to the traditional leftist trade unions which were able to mount credible challenges both to UNP governments as well as those of the SLFP/MEP post 1956. With the patronage pork barrel at his disposal, Jayewardene who well understood in the interplay of muscle, money and power in state craft, beefed-up the JSS which continues to retain some of its clout even in the absence from office of its patron saint’s party. Hence the UNP, no doubt to heighten the discomfiture of Rajapaksa and his government over a strike called by their erstwhile JVP ally, backed the pus vedilla.

It is certainly a matter for satisfaction that just as much as there was no major breakdown of supplies and services essential for the life of the community last Thursday, violence too was limited. There were some instances of placing obstructions on the railway lines, flinging of burnt engine oil on public transport and some cases of stoning of buses. Two ambulance drivers in Kandy, one an office bearer of a striking union, had been stabbed by masked men. Hopefully the police will be able to apprehend the culprits and these cases, unlike the recent attacks on journalists Keith Noyahr and Namal Perera, will not run against a blank wall. It is unfortunately a fact of life in this country, more so in recent years, that investigations into law breaking are more successful when the ruling political establishment has a direct interest in the cases being cracked. But where state agencies are suspect, the so-called ``breakthroughs’’ are seldom if ever made. No wonder then that the public casts a cynical eye on such goings on notwithstanding the demands for urgent reports from the high and mighty when post-incident outrage is running high.

While it is possible to empathize with strikers pushing pay demands resenting blacklegs who pocket higher pay and perks won by others risking their jobs, using thuggery and other brute force methods to intimidate non-strikers cannot be condoned. This is most so in cases where politically affiliated unions – too many of the unions in this country are connected to political parties – dancing to somebody else’s agenda go on strike and attempt to use terror tactics against those who refuse to join. The fear last week was that strikers may go for non-strikers and force intervention by law enforcers. A broken head or a stray bullet can escalate to serious proportions as we have seen too often in the past. That, fortunately, did not happen. The actual numbers that joined the strike still remain hazy. The true figure, like in the claims of battlefield casualties made by both the government and the LTTE, must lie somewhere in-between contending claims.

The government cannot be faulted for its stance that the disruption a full-blown strike would cause in the country will undermine the war effort. But this is a card that is being played too often. Waste, corruption and profligacy with taxpayers’ money are all covered up by the war and the government’s flagging popularity on gut issues like the cost of living cushioned by claims of battlefield advances. Apart from the Rs. 5,000 a month wage increase on which the strike was called, the JVP also tagged on the demands that the Constitutional Council be forthwith appointed and the Cabinet be downsized to 30. These are matters on which there is widespread public support and throwing them into the ring would have certainly made the cause more attractive in the public perception. Nevertheless, most people knew too well that the political objective of the strike was to begin a process of weakening the government. That was why the UNP and other opposition parties supported the strike and that is why the government, despite its many brave words, was nervous about the outcome.