The jute industry has always been beset by problems. But the latest attack on unions by mill workers is a first.
By Nilanjan Dutta
Is labour militancy in West Bengal taking on a new form? The incident at a jute mill on 5 March could well set the tone.
It was a usual workday in the industrial belt in Kolkata’s northern suburb. But workers at the Jagaddal Jute and Industries Limited were in for a rude shock when they turned up at the mill’s gate in the morning. A notice at the gate announced the ‘suspension of work’ for an indefinite period, except at some “essential” departments. And yes, the notice did not fail to mention that they would not get wages for the period when production remains suspended.
The reason: Seven workers of the finishing department were hampering production and preventing finished goods to be taken out of the factory. The notice named the seven workers.
The workers found the logic skewed. How could only seven workers create so much trouble that production had to be halted? And why should the entire workforce be punished?
They felt it was a pretext to conceal a larger design. And naturally, they reacted. But in a rather unusual manner! They vent their anger not on the management, which millworkers have done in the past, but on the unions.
Turned away from the mill gates, the workers first rushed towards the house of Congress-controlled Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) leader Verma Singh. The leader had got a hunch of what was coming and fled along with his family. The workers set fire to his car parked nearby.
Then, they ransacked the offices of the INTUC and the Bengal Chatkal Mazdoor Union affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), controlled by the CPI(M). Soon, the police rushed in to contain the agitating workers.
Later, the workers alleged that the management was trying to bring in contract workers at cheaper rates to run the mill, displacing regular job-holders. The workers accused the union leaders of collaborating with the management.
There are reasons for the workers to lose faith on the established unions. “Ending unfair labour practices” was one of the major issues of a two-month long strike by more than 200,000 workers in 50 jute mills in West Bengal that ended with a tripartite settlement on 13 February. It was the latest in a series of industry-wide strikes in 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2008, besides unit-based labour actions, all of which failed even to get an earlier settlement in 2001 properly implemented.
This time, the settlement was arrived at following the intervention of Union Minister for Textiles Dayanidhi Maran. Seniors officers of the ministry including the joint secretary (jute) held marathon meetings with the parties concerned in Kolkata on 9 and 10 February.
The reason for concern is that jute, once dismissed as a “sunset” industry, has been looking up again over the last decade. Its annual turnover is now about Rs 5,000 crore. This has been possible following the rise in global demand for environment-friendly and bio-degradable packaging material. The industry has made significant breakthrough in diversification of products as well, including fashion items. Exports have risen to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore, in which the share of diversified products is almost a third. Jute products are exported to the US, Europe and Gulf countries.
Observers believe the impact of the recently launched jute technology mission could double the current turnover of the industry. India is the world’s largest jute producer, accounting for two-thirds of the global production. The average annual production in the last five years has been 1.6 million tonnes, of which 1.4 million tonnes are consumed by the domestic market.
Jute is grown in the very state, i.e. the raw material necessary for this industry is conveniently at hand. Almost two hundred and fifty thousand workers are engaged in the industry; almost 5 million peasants are in the cultivation of jute and over 4.5 million people involved in the jute trade and associated activities. Most of this industry is concentrated in West Bengal. The 61-day strike in the state since 14 December 2009 has cost the industry Rs 2,200 crore.
However, the settlement could make neither the owners nor the workers happy. Members of the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) accused its chairman, Sanjay Kajaria, of “surrendering to the government and the unions.” Although he denied the charge, he resigned accepting “moral responsibility.”
The resenting millowners complained that the agreement placed on them a huge financial burden. It was agreed that DA arrears would be cleared in six instalments over three years. Of the 627 points arrears, 277 points would be settled immediately and the remaining 350 points in five instalments.
Moreover, 169 points of DA at the rate of Rs 1.90 would be effective from 1 February 2010 and future DA would be paid on a quarterly basis. Besides, the entry-level wage was revised from Rs 100 per day to Rs 157 per day.
But workers, on their part, have little hope that they will ever see the promised payments. Declaring “suspension of work” under various pretexts has become a feature of the industry over the past two decades. Each time a mill reopens following a settlement with the unions, the management expresses its inability to take in as many workers as it had earlier.
As the number of workers decreases, the workload increases. On the other hand, new labourers are taken in on contract at much cheaper rates. Very often laid-off or retrenched skilled workers are forced to join the queues of contract workers. They are paid as little as Rs 40-Rs 100 a day, when they would have earned Rs 250 on regular employment.
Union leaders are divided over the Jagaddal incident. Speaking to Current, INTUC state secretary Pramathes Sen said it was the result of a “misunderstanding.” The workers, he said, had become restive as mill owners were “flouting all norms and agreements” and the state government was taking no measures to enforce them. Veteran CITU leader Kali Ghosh, however, described the incident as the “handiwork of paid agents of the employers.”
Whatever be the cause, going by the situation in the industry, it seems they should be prepared to face more jolts like Jagaddal.