Mamata Weans Away Bengal Intuc Members In Bengal

The concept of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc), as a single, unified trade union is rapidly disintegrating as regional and state factions of the union shift allegiance from the Congress.

Officially Intuc still supports the Congress.

In the recent elections, the official circular of the Intuc stated that the Union would support the Congress. But results in majority of the states like Orissa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and others showed that its members did not toe the official line.

Intuc members candidly admit that official circulars and the political stance of the unions all-India working committee do not really matter. Who the different state factions of Intuc will support depends on the respective political realities in the states, said a source in the union.

 

In West Bengal, following Mamata Banerjees expulsion from the Congress, the state Intuc and the miscellaneous unions affiliated to it are seen aligning with the Trinamool Congress-BJP alliance.

In industrial regions in and around Calcutta like Barrackpur, Dum Dum, Asansol, Srerampur, Hooghly, Diamond Harbour (which include places like Budge Budge, Falta and Batanagar), and partly Calcutta North West, the working class members of INTUC-affiliated unions have supported the TMC-BJP alliance. INTUC members have made one thing very clear, it is the Mamata factor that draws them to TMC. Had Mamata remained in the Congress, Intuc in West Bengal would have continued its support to the party, sources said.

Yet, various unions still cling to Intuc in order to remain part of an all-India body. Moreover, the Intuc constitution of May 3, 1947, does not state that one has to support the Congress to be a part of the union. If the constitution is amended and a new policy like that is formed, the disintegration of the union would be a certainty, the sources said. They admit Intuc is more or less going the same way as the left-oriented Centre for Trade Unions (Citu) whose credibility is slowly getting eroded due to the disillusionment of the working class.

However, until TMC forms its own union, Intuc need not fear extinction in West Bengal. And, from what it seems, Mamata Banerjee is in no hurry to form a TMC union as it would be too localised. It is much more convenient for her to continue her operations through Intuc.

The question is then why does the official circular of Intuc profess support to the Congress. Said a union source in Delhi: This is a matter of tradition and no one wants to quickly change that. Even in Delhi, there are many senior Intuc supporters who back the BJP.

In the end, the working class, for whom unions are formed, really do not care whether they are affiliated to Citu or the Intuc. They want their lot to be protected even if that means shifting allegiance from one political party to another.