Bala Tampoe: A Legacy of Action
September 1 marks 11 years since Bala Tampoe’s passing. A lifelong defender of the oppressed, he dedicated himself to leftist politics, workers struggles, and the protection of human rights. Tampoe was a trade union leader who always stood with the people and never with the rulers.
“First, you are a human being. Second, you are a worker. Third, you are a CMU member and a trade union activist,” said Bala Tampoe, a stalwart workers union leader who strengthened the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers’ Union (CMU) for 66 consecutive years.
Born to Tamil parents in Negombo. He studied at Royal College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Ceylon in 1939, later obtaining another degree from the University of London in 1944, all while actively engaged in the politics of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP).
He joined the LSSP at the age of 17 and was among those who orchestrated the daring rescue of its leaders when the party was banned and its leadership imprisoned. The operation succeeded, enabling the LSSP leaders to escape to India. Later Tampoe became a founder of the Bolshevik Leninist Party (BLP) and earned recognition as a powerful Trotskyist orator.
Tampoe, who began his career as a lecturer in botany at Agricultural College in Kundasale, took part in the general strike of 1947. His outspoken criticism of the ruling authorities during the strike led to his dismissal from the post, after which he devoted himself fully to politics. He later assumed leadership of the CMU following the departure of its founder E.A. Gunasinghe who had joined the UNP.
The LSSP’s alliance with Tampoe and the CMU ended in 1964 when it entered into a coalition with the SLFP, even abandoning the 21 demand struggle. Union leaders led by Tampoe and N. Shanmugathasan had presented a 21 demand proposal to the government, highlighting issues faced by both workers and the public. However, the LSSP and Communist Party leaders disregarded those demands and chose instead to align with the SLFP government.
In response, 14 members of the LSSP Central Committee including Edmund Samarakkody, Meril Fernando, V. Karalasingham, Reggie Mendis and Tampoe who opposed this move broke away and began operating as the LSSP (Revolutionary). This split marked a crucial turning point in Tampoe’s political career.
Tampoe had earlier contested the Central Colombo seat under the LSSP in the March and July 1960 elections, and in the 1965 general election he stood again for the same seat, this time as a candidate of the LSSP (Revolutionary) under the lamp symbol.
Amid political turmoil, Tampoe succeeded in building the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) as the Ceylon branch of the Fourth International, keeping party politics and trade union activities distinct. In the 1977 general election, the RMP and CMU each fielded two candidates contesting four seats in total. Despite receiving support from the JVP, all four were defeated in the face of the UNP’s overwhelming victory.
After the 1980 strike, deep ideological rifts between the CMU and the RMP caused a major split. Upali Cooray and his supporters continued under the RMP banner while Tampoe took the lead in guiding workers through the CMU. The RMP’s operations were dealt a severe blow during the brutal terror period of 198-89, when escalating threats and widespread violence forced several leaders including Upali Cooray to flee the country.
Bala Tampoe represented the CMU as a member of the committee that called and led the 1953 hartal, widely regarded as the first mass uprising of workers and other communities against a capitalist government. He played a key role in organizing the hartal, traveling across the country to address meetings and mobilize workers.
Within the CMU, members were divided; some supported the hartal while others opposed it. Tampoe overcame resistance by rallying members, many wearing black armbands, to join the strike in support of the movement.
While Tampoe was an active force in the 1953 hartal, he opposed the July 1980 general strike. He argued that such actions could not be launched hastily under the newly elected, powerful government. Nevertheless, other leaders disagreed and the strike was called. Although the CMU did not officially participate, Tampoe did not hesitate to extend protection to the strikers. The strike ended with mass dismissals, leaving 40,356 workers unemployed.
A pioneer in establishing collective agreements between employers and workers, Tampoe also secured a cost of living allowance, ensuring that wages kept pace with rising living expenses.
Tampoe was at the forefront of those who resisted the repression of the 1971 Southern Youth Uprising and the use of emergency laws to crush it. He condemned the killings and arbitrary arrests and even appeared before the Criminal Justice Commission on behalf of the rebels, offering his services free of charge. Without his intervention, the murder of Premawathi Manamperi from Kataragama might have been concealed from the public. He also played a leading role in the movement for the release of political prisoners that began in 1975.
Tampoe strongly opposed the emergency laws and regulations introduced by the UNP government in the late 70s as well as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He stood firmly with university students, religious leaders and young people who suffered under these repressive measures. During the dark period of 1988-89, he fearlessly raised his voice against widespread human rights violations.
From the outset, Tampoe opposed the executive presidential system, a stance that remains central to the CMU’s platform with its continuing call for its abolition. He also campaigned against the privatization of local resources, one example being his opposition to the sale of the Eppawala phosphate deposit.
Tampoe firmly believed that trade unions should not become pawns of political parties. Instead, he argued, workers should build a party of their own – one that was truly independent and unique to them. He expressed this view clearly in the December 1978 issue of the Lanka Guardian magazine.
“Whatever hopes there may have been in the LSSP have been shattered. The CP has never been anything more than a minority party with a base in limited section of trade unions. Most of groups have no following really. Yet the consciousness of the working class remain mainly at the trade union level in its quest for struggle against the capitalists or the capitalist state. We are now in a situation where reactionaries like J.R. Jayewardene are posing as socialists,” he warned. “In the absence of a working class party, distinct from the bourgeois parties, the people are left to vacillate between those very bourgeois forces.”
Tampoe was sharply critical of the JVP’s stance on the national question, pointing out that their views reflected a non-Marxist Sinhala nationalist attitude. He was equally critical of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leadership whose promotion of the Eelam slogan he described as propagandistic and opportunistic. Writing in the Lanka Guardian, he emphasized that while there was widespread sentiment for secession among the Tamil people, isolated acts of violence could not be regarded as a genuine struggle for secession. He believed such tendencies would over time be overtaken by the broader struggle.
“We do not advocate a separate state for the Tamils. We hold the struggle of the Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslims masses has to be against the existing state as a whole such a struggle can only be led by the organized working class which has to be multi-racial,” he said.
Bala Tampoe, who dedicated his entire life to the working class, consistently refused awards offered by capitalist governments. In protest against the Rajapaksa government’s failure to implement the promised Workers’ Charter, he resigned from the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC). He never abandoned the struggle and continued to fight until his passing on September 1, 2014.
The CMU headquarters building, constructed entirely with workers’ membership contributions, now stands half a century old. It was officially dedicated to the workers on May Day, 1975 bearing the inscription, “For those who are engaged in the struggle against exploitation and oppression and who have lost their lives, freedom, or livelihood in that struggle.”
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