Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/876

 786 MISCELLANEOUS

because my survey cf labour in India is so far as I have been able to undertake it and my long experience of con- ditions of labour in South Afrioa lead me to the conclu- sion that in a large majority of oases leaders consider that they have to give labour the knowledge of the 3 B's. That undoubtedly is a necessity of the case. Bat it is to be preceded by a proper knowledge of your own rights and fcbe way of enforcing them. And in conducting many a strike I have found that it is possible to give this fundamental education to the labourers within a few days. And that brings* me to the subject of strikes. Strikers are now in the air to-day throughout the world and on the slightest pretext labour goes in for strikes, My own experience of the last six months is that many strikes have done harm to labour rather than good, I have studied go far as I can the strikes in Bombay, a strike at Tata Iron Works, and the celebrated scrike of the railway labourers in the Punjab, There was a failure ia all these strikes. Labour was not able to make good its points to the fullest extent. What was the reason? Labour was badly led, I want you to distinguish between two classes of leaders, You have leaders derived from yourselves and they are in their turn advised and led by those who are not themselves labourers, but who are in sympathy or expected to be in sympathy with labour. Unless there is perfect correspondence between these (three, there is bound to be a failure. la all these four strikes that perfect correspondence was lacking, There ia another substantial reason which I disaovered. labourers look to pecuniary support from their unions for their maintenance. No labour can prolong a strika indefinitely BO long as labour depaads oa bbe resources of its unions and no strike can absolutely suooaed which oaaoot) be

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