India factory workers revolt and kill company president. What do you think?

I think the company president reaped what he sowed.

That’s one thing that can happen when owners treat workers so badly that they reach that degree of desperation.

Only a matter of time until it happens in the US.

I agree with @Brian1946 – when the owners crap on the employees, this is the result. And historically, it is tried and true. Remember Marie Antoinette in France? She said “let them eat cake” and she was eating dirt a year later.

The rich ought to realize that eventually there is a reaction. You can’t crap on your employees – the ones who make you rich – forever.

I think one should not take the law in their own hands.
Although it is very imaginable that they were frustrated and furious, in my view it is wrong to take the life of someone (even if that person did wrong, court is still the place to judge those presumed wrongdoings).

I think the Indians are in need of some unions!

Sic semper tyrannis.

Karma, karma, karma.

Gandhi would have found a better way.

@Coloma

“Karma, karma, karma.”

…▲... chameleon can be a beautiful thing. ;-)

@Brian1946 haha..I know, as soon as I wrote that Boy Georges tune flashed through my mind. So true! Great song! :-)

Have you ever worked with ferrel animals at a shelter? When backed into a corner, they either fall into a lifeless coma, or attack viciously. Both are euthanized, very rarely rehabilitated.

In this case, the workers chose to attack. I wonder if their movement will be euthanized or rehabilitated.

The Indians need more pow wows.

@john65pennington

Your mentor for your doctoral thesis in anthropology must have been Prefesser Archibald Bunker. ;-)

Really, as “they” say…there is NO new news under the sun.
When people have been oppressed and abused for lengthy periods a revolt and uprising is predictable.
This can be on a personal level, all the way to a political/governmental level.
One day that cowering little cocker spaniel that’s been tied to a tree and kicked around is going to jump up and rip your nose off.

Cause and effect, no surprises if you ask me.

I think it sends the message that these workers aren’t going to put up with what is often inhumane treatment anymore. No one is going to stand up for them and since there is power in numbers, they should be using it. Killing the company president is obviously a little extreme, but how else are they gonna get heard?

Are people really arguing that this man got what he deserved? No one deserves to be murdered.

@dappled_leaves Well no, unless it’s for the greater good. Which is very subjective, of course.

I think those people must have been hopeless to ever receive any help or fairness by other means in order to resort to killing that man. My guess is the business owner bought protection from investigation and law in order for those people to act out, knowing they’d have no more job at all and face punishment,

Fight Club, anyone?
“Remember this [...] The people you’re trying to step on, we’re everyone you depend on. We’re the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you’re asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.

“We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we’ll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won’t. And we’re slowly learning this fact [...] So don’t fuck with us.” (Palahniuk, page 166)

For me killing is murder, cruel and a step backwards.

I can’t imagine the magnitude of this misfortune. However, if I had an opportunity to work, I don’t believe hurting someone who played a role in my employment would be a smart idea.

@elbanditoroso
I hope you realize that Marie Antoinette has most likely never said that?

I am not assimilating anyone saying the man deserved to be murdered, just that those that chose to be perpetrators of oppression and abuse are choosing to risk something unsavory occurring. Of course murder is not the answer, but…the infamous “but”...I certainly am not surprised.

Murder is rarely ever the best answer, but these people have been treated very badly for a very long time & it appears that since they had power in numbers – they opted to kill their oppressor. Many US companies have moved manufacturing to India, China, Pakistan, etc. These US companies make NO effort to have their manufacturing plants in these locations treat the employees even reasonably well. Apple’s company in China (Foxconn) is using slave driving conditions to ensure that Apple makes the money it expects to make. The way that Foxconn is treating the so-called “employees” has deteriorated to the point that the “employees” are locked up in dormitories so that they will be on hand if Apple decides to make some last minute change to its I-Phones or PCs or notebooks. They do not get the regular breaks that American workers do, & if injured on the job – they loose their job, & the pay that they receive is pennies on the dollar & nothing for over-time work. Late last year several of the Foxconn employees committed suicide as a means of protesting how they were being treated. Next time it could be that they will chose to kill some of their oppressive managers instead of themselves. It might not be the “just” thing to do, but treatment like they are having to endure can & does generate a truly blinding anger & desperation.

Sounds karmically balanced, to me. It could lead to more equitable employee-boss relationships. ;-)

India is a lovely country with nice people but it is very corrupt. Government officials and the police at all levels commonly accept bribes. I don’t think workers who are being unfairly treated would have anyone to turn to other than themselves. A rich company boss would see to that. This incident has been tragic but it need never have happened if decent employment laws had been enforced or if there had been a dialogue between management and workers. In India not working can mean starvation for you and your family.

They need unions and badly. Murdering your boss is not a good career move. On the other hand desperation will drive people to unimagined lengths. The High Court judgement – that workers were to remain more than 200 yards from the perimeter of the factory – simply inflamed the people and let’s face it, the police management seems to have been very hamfisted. I hope the politicians are taking note.

I think that American rulers (corporate or government) should take heed. Workers here are almost as pissed off over the same thing, most countries who have sever problems with their governments revolt, and we have the Second Amendment here.

Shit just got real :)

@jca @bea2345 Re-read the article. They were union! In fact, the killing was a result of the union boss being killed by police who were called there by management.

@jerv – Mea culpa. But it is obvious that their industrial relations law is inadequate. Other reports suggest that industrial unrest is a national problem in India.