Dunlop Tus Hit By Factionalism

Amid the mayhem at tyre major Dunlop India, a new prospect has begun to unfold, that of factionalism between the four trade unions of the company.

Dunlop had announced a temporary suspension of work at its Sahaganj factory in West Bengal on Sunday.

The company has four unions. Of the two Sahaganj unions, one is affiliated to Citu, another to Intuc. There is yet another union, the head office union, which is within the All India Dunlop Employees Federation (AIDEF). Factionalism has been brought to the fore with a section of the AIDEF, led by general secretary Manik Sinha Choudhury, refusing to participate in the anti-management campaign.

 

Sinha Choudhury was seen at the Dunlop House on Monday, while representatives of the other unions were busy thrashing out the impasse with senior West Bengal ministers at Writers' Buildings.

This passive stance also manifests itself in Sinha Choudhury's refusal to open up to the press, at a time when his colleagues in the rest of the unions are seeking media help in trying to resolve the crisis.

Says Ashoke Pal, vice president of the Citu-affiliated Sahaganj union: "It is very surprising that Sinha Choudhury did not take part in the meeting. We just want to know what is going on." Another source in the union said: "We cannot look for any kind of co-operation from the Sinha Choudhury faction on any matter relating to taking action against the management."

The other Dunlop unions sources said "although this faction is signing the memoranda against the management, it is clearly not adopting an anti-management stance in action."

When contacted yesterday at Dunlop House, Sinha Choudhury declined to comment. "Things are fine here. We have nothing more to say," he said. For the last three months, the Sahaganj workers have not been receiving their wages.

The plight of the workers seems to be gradually worsening with the management not being able to clear the dues of many of the workers. It has declared a temporary suspension of work at both the Sahaganj and the Ambattur units.

Recently, the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) threatened to stop supply to the workers' residential area at Sahaganj, due to unpaid bills amounting to over Rs 1 crore.

However, the company management, after negotiating with the WBSEB, managed to get some more time to clear the dues.