Theres been another 'all india strike', albeit with low participation (various unions have each wrangled their own deal). This time the demands, which seem unreasonable to many Indians, are not that unreasonable. They are primarily calling for a minimum wage and social security, mainly driven by the failure of wages to keep pace with high inflation, and even steeper hikes in food and fuel. The general unions (communist) are also possibly scared by the moves of the Indian government to open up the until now protected Indian economy to competition. It will be brutal, and the supermarkets could potentially render vast numbers of 'small business owners' redundant. So quoted because half of all Indians questioned will give their profession as businessman... really its sitting idle/ sleeping hoping to sell some goods at some point.
The demanded wage is Rs10,000 per month. This is roughly GBP 120 per month, and not an unreasonable since adjusted for present purchasing power (estimate 10 fold, though it varies, for petrol or vegetable oil the factor is only 2) it is not far off the minimum wage for full time work in the UK. The problem is this is a vast step from the present low wages (published) of 4000 rural or 6000 urban for basic shop keeper work.
India has a shortage of employment, and without a minimum wage competitive pressure is strongly downwards on all non-unionised staff. I'm not an economist and I can see this threatening one of Indias assets, that you can find someone willing to work for $1 per day. But this wage 'shurely' can't exist in any stable solution
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