By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : At a time when multinationals with manufacturing bases in India are unwilling to recognise worker unions, the labour wing of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK has got a leg up over its rivals in its expansion srategies.
The Labour Progressive Front (LPF) is planning to promote unions in companies located in the Oragadam-Sriperumbudur belt near here where many multinational firms have set up their Indian plants.
Finnish mobile phone handset maker Nokia India agreed, at a reconciliation meeting held Aug 24 at the Labour Commissioner’s office, to negotiate with the LPF affiliated Nokia India Employees Progressive Union (NIEPU).
“Nokia India officials agreed to talk to NIEPU office bearers. In a way that is recognition of the union. We will be expanding our base within and without Tamil Nadu,” LPF leader and former DMK MP C. Kuppusamy told IANS.
“We will be expanding our base in Tamil Nadu as nearly one third of the workers in all the factories belong to the DMK. We intend to start our unions in companies like Hyundai Motor India, Ford India, MRF and others,” added a confident Kuppusamy.
LPF has a total of 693 affiliated unions with around 700,000 members.
Agreeing that LPF affiliated unions were largely in state and central government undertakings and sugar mills, Kuppusamy said the situation was expected to change soon.
Asked about the challenges in dealing with multinationals as compared to government undertakings, he said: “The challenges are the same – negotiating for the betterment of workers. Our demands will be realistic based on the industry situation.”
MRF and Hyundai Motor are the two auto sector companies in Tamil Nadu hit by recurring labour problems.
In Hyundai Motors, the union is affiliated to the pro-Marxist Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU). It has been demanding recognition which the company has declined.
“Our approach will be different. It was evident in Nokia India. We are sure of securing the recognition,” Kuppusamy said.
With more and more industrial units coming up in the Oragadam-Sriperumbudur belt, it has become important for political parties to activate their labour wings to mobilise membership.
Asked about his strategy to counter LPF’s influence, A. Soundararajan, general secretary of CITU, told IANS: “We do not actively go out to factories to start a union. We help workers who come to us for help and guidance.”
Coming down heavily on the demand of multinational companies to have their units declared as public utility, Soundararajan said: “MNCs do not agree for union formation and demand public utility status. Car or mobile phone factories are certainly not public utility. The general public will not get affected if workers strike work to press their demands.
“At any point of time, a trade union of any party affiliation is a better option than a Works Committee,” Soundararajan added.