Trade unionism remains a millstone around the neck of a soaring India. The Airport Authority Employees Union dithered for days before using its trump card of an indefinite strike in the fond hope that it could make the government give in to its illogic. The union has been demanding that the government continue operations in the old airports of Hyderabad and Bangalore despite the fact that the privately-managed greenfield airports in both the cities are already functional. Its blackmail having failed, the union has moved into fourth gear and decided, on behalf of the employees of the Airports Authority of India, that the country deserves to revisit the nightmarish spectre of 2006, when it had managed to bring air traffic almost to a standstill by jamming the services on the ground in protest against the much-needed privatization of airports. The government this time has moved with more alacrity and imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act, which carries with it the threat of arrest and punishment. But the belligerence of the union and sections of the staff is unlikely to make matters any easy for passengers.

This irascible behaviour has its own history. The union, backed by the Left, has been at loggerheads with the government ever since airport-privatization was taken up on a grand scale to put an end to inefficiency as a collective public enterprise and to spruce up the infrastructure in order to keep up with the growing traffic. Only privatization could guarantee both the steady inflow of funds needed for this venture and improved management. The overriding concern of the Left and the unions has been, apparently, job security of the existent staff, but even assurance from the government that jobs would be conserved has not stopped them from taking up a confrontationist stand. What motivates them is their undying belief in the old socialist principle of government participation in the ‘public’ sector that would justify the heavy subsidization of the services. But the well-heeded ‘public’ who use the services, and increasingly so, scarcely needs such engagement. Besides, why should the government concern itself with services that the privileged can pay for when there are other areas like education and healthcare, which deserve more immediate care and attention, as well as the precious funds? The militant labour aristocracy of the Left is fighting for a lost cause. It should begin looking for another, and soon.