What’s a ‘job’ worth in this “atomised” world?
- - on 10/11/2015
Speaking at a discussion forum on Tuesday (06 October) at the Mahaweli Centre on a recently authored book by Siritunge Jayasuriya titled “80 July Strike – Analytical Report” (literally translated to English) Professor Sumanasiri Liyanage said, “In a neo liberal economy in countries like ours, there is little space for workers’ struggles. Therefore, if the strike in July 1980 was not organised with that militancy at that early period, there may have not been any strike later.” This neo liberal economic model was first tried out by the “Chicago boys” in Chile, after Allende’s democratically elected government was overthrown in a bloody military coup led by General Pinochet and the second country that tried it was perhaps Sri Lanka under Jayawardne, said Prof. Liyanage. The strike was crushed within two weeks under emergency regulations, leaving well over 47,000 out of jobs and most families destitute.
