Or how to benefit a small number of trade-unionists at the cost of a large number of pensioners
And via Amit Varma comes this revelation.
For the left, of course, what matters is how good their rhetoric sounds and not how well their policies work…
And then, holier than thou and brimming with sanctimony, they will imply that by questioning them we are doing a disservice to the poor of India. Indeed. [India Uncut]
The Left parties arm-twisted the Indian government to increase the interest rates on the public Employees Provident Fund (EPF). This largely benefits relatively well-paid trade-unionists who form a very small percentage of the workforce. But in the process, the Left parties have stalled pension reform leaving a vast majority of the lower-income workers outside the EPF’s security net.
This also true in many southern European countries like France/Italy, where unions have less than 10% working population. Here the unions claim to speak up for the working-class ultimately stalling the entire country/economy. Contrast this with some Nordic countries, Denmark where > 50% population is enrolled in some kinda union. Here the unions are in constant negotiations with the management and they rarely strike since they are able to come to an agreement which pleases almost all involved.
Arm-twisting is the term for this assortment of goons masquerading as trade union leaders. Come to think of it, they’re more powerful than their Politburo bosses. It was a few months ago that the FM ruled out a hike in PF hike. Look at now. Again, who are hurt? The Left seems to think it’s their God-given right to steal.
They did it even before the government came to power, with their statements on the economy causing the sensex to nosedive. Who lost? Not them, for sure, I’ll bet. I’m fairly sure those chaps made sure they sold off enough shares before making the irresponsible statements.