The Tzar of the working class celebrates 65

years in the CMU

February 2, 2013
A gathering at the May Wickremasuriya hall at the
CMU where Comrade Bala Tampoe addressed the membership.
Comrade Bala Tampoe gestures to drive a point as he mesmerizes the
gathering in his signature stylethe vernacular
by Maheen enanayake
!iven a plat"orm to mark his #$th year o" service to the CMU% veteran
trade unionist Bala Tampoe o" &riday used the no "rills occasion to trace the
progress o" the union rather than his own.
'Most decisively it was in ()**% the year in which + was born% ,ust "our
years a"ter the -ussian revolution that the Ceylon .abour Union was born
under the aegis o" Ale/ander 0kanayake !oonasinha%' he reminisced. '+
was still a schoolboy staying at 1orton 2lace when + heard a procession in
()3( 4 5 6awda ra,a 7Who8s the king9% inha -a,a 7inha is the 6ing: %
;ayah Mala 7 ;ayah is dead:.88 The slogans re"erred to !oonasinha and TB
;ayah.
'.ittle did + know at the time that many years later + would succeed A0
!oonasinha as a revolt within the very institution he had built led by a "ew
clerks o" Burgher% Tamil and Malay descent would metamorphose
!oonasinha "rom a man who championed the worker to one who led an
attack on port workers.
'1ave you seen A 0 !oonasinha8s statue9' he asked pointing to all in the
packed hall. '+ will "orgive you "or you are young. +t is in !oonasinhapura
in 2ettah "or those o" you who can go there go and see it. 1e is seen
wielding a large hammer. That is because he ,oined the workers in the
repair o" roads and worked alongside them in solidarity. Can you imagine
today8s politician doing this9'
Comrade Bala Tampoe who is now )*<years old% has played many roles
including husband% "ather% politician% teacher% criminal lawyer and
academic. =et one thing reverberates in his demeanor that is di""icult to
ignore. That is his commitment to his "ellow men. The socialist in him is
always uppermost.
'+ was *$ when + was made the ecretary o" the CMU%' he recalled. This
means that he has been ecretary to the Ceylon Mercantile Union "or #$
years. Which also means that Tampoe was ecretary to the CMU ever since
+ndependence "rom the British was accorded to our land and he has
watched presidents and leaders come and go ever since the beginning o"
ri .anka8s own political history.
1is contribution to shaping this country8s political and social landscape is
momentous 4 certainly too much to detail in this piece. But know ye all
who do not know that today you may en,oy a holiday% or even claim some
"orm o" permanency in employment because o" the struggles he led.
!overnment servants under the British administration were given no
political and trade union rights. A young Bala Tampoe aged ,ust () in
()>(% pledged his allegiance to the .anka ama ama,a 2arty 7.2: at a
time "raught with trouble.
Tampoe whose political li"e began during World War ll in the underground
.2 obtained an e/ternal honours degree in Botany and 1orticulture "rom
the University o" .ondon% through the Ceylon University College as it was
then known. 1is "irst ,ob was as a lecturer in Botany and 1orticulture at
the ?epartment o" Agriculture in 2eradeniya.
+ noticed several popular "aces among the gathering including ?r. @irmal
-an,it ?ewasiri who had previously led the &UTA8s strike.
'?uring the time o" the British% a clerk was paid -s. $A and a minor o""ice
worker -s. ($ and given a pair o" shorts. This was a time when the clerical
sta"" was mostly Burghers and Malays who knew 0nglish. They were to
work "rom ) in the morning till $ in the evening and they could be
dismissed with one month8s notice at any time without enBuiry.
CC@ow can you imagine working in a space where there is no .abour
Tribunal or any institution to rep
resent your rights9 Well those were the times in which we began our
struggle%' he said.
'Dur clerks would report well ahead o" time so that they would be
engrossed in their work when the British masters arrived. +n the "amous
strike at 2late% the photography and art establishment% we lead a
work"orce o" $A who had never ever been engaged in strikes through a
peace"ul protest "or "airer wages.
'My instructions to them wasE
Dnce you turn up at work% do not sit at your desk or begin work until the
appointed time. Then at the end o" the day do not overstay.8
The very "irst day the colonial masters arrived to work% they were
surprised to see no one at the desks and believed the strike had begun as
they saw all the workers talking among themselves outside. Within weeks
the demands were met and salaries were increased.
CCDur struggles have been many. + must also tell you that in ()>F we
gained +ndependence and + lost my ,ob. + was dismissed by the last
!overnor o" Ceylon.
'Today we have human resources managers but + "ail to see them give
meaning to the 5human8 component. =ou are merely a resource. + am
dealing today in my o""icial capacity at the CMU with some individuals
whose grand"athers had initially signed collective agreements with the
CMU. There are those who recognize the importance o" and value o" the
worker. +nitially this institution was set up "or clerks. But subseBuently it
was e/tended to include all workers.88
Beginning with 3AA subscription paying members% the CMU e/panded to a
nation<wide mass organization o" almost 3A%AAA workers comprising
manual workers as well as clerical and minor employees. +n the weeks and
months leading up to ()>G% the year o" ri .anka8s nominal +ndependence
"rom colonial 0nglish rule% workers belonging to the Ceylon Mercantile
Union rose up to take control and give leadership to their organization.
+n a memorable repertoire o" successes the "irst was a nine<demand
campaign which culminated in a strike o" over (A%AAA workers in ()$#
resulting in the state<imposed Canakeratne Award to the historic collective
agreement o" ()#( with #F companies belonging to the 0mployers8
&ederation o" Ceylon. This has over the years become the model o" most
collective agreements employers have entered into with unions.
As + look around% the lights around the CMU meeting hall named a"ter his
late wi"e% May Wickremasuriya% are diminishing and a couple o" members
are serving a drink in plastic cups. All eyes and ears are on Bala. 1is red
shirt and the well kept white head o" hair is in per"ect shape. + look at his
picture beneath which is written 5The 1ayleys branch8 and compare the
sharp "eatures then and now.
Comrade Tampoe is a e/istentialist. 1e may be a socialist but his grasp o"
changing conditions which he once e/plained to me to be the 5dialectics o"
motion8 is very real. 1e realizes how the masters have slowly but surely
regained control o" the masses. '+t is time "or us to regain and re<group. +
see what is happening all around us and + think o" the Worker8s Charter.
CCWhen Mahinda -a,apaksa was Minister o" .abour% he "ormulated the
Workers Charter to which we ourselves contributed. At the time he could
not get it passed in 2arliament. Today he has a two thirds ma,ority. +s it
even taken up today988
1is eyes glint in the setting sun. 1is "igure now slowly blurring in the
darkness that is beginning to envelope us. + glance at ?r. ?ewasiri. 1e is
still watching the man the media called the Tzar o" the working class.
'@oH' he answers. That is because today they say it is irrelevant. + can see
that there is lack o" solidarity amongst workers. +t is time to revive the
power o" the worker. We may not have the power o" the ballot. But we
certainly have the power o" the labour.
As the setting son cloaked us all% + began to wonder whether the struggle
"or the right o" the worker will continue. + began to wonder who will "ill
those shoes. + wondered how a man whose mother tongue was not inhala
mesmerized% motivated and mobilized masses against a British corporate
machine. + wondered what it is like to dedicate one8s li"e to another9 Are
those shoes too big to "ill9
Posted by Thavam