Mamata's Partymen shut factory in West Bengal

Factory shut after ‘arm-twisting’ strike

ABHIJEET CHATTERJEE

Durgapur, Nov. 5: The owner of a Durgapur factory shut shop yesterday after alleged arm-twisting by employees owing allegiance to a Trinamul-affiliated trade union. Ratan Agarwal, owner of Veer Wheels Pvt. Ltd which makes bicycle parts, issued a suspension-of-work notice a day after workers backed by Trinamul’s labour arm, the INTTUC, went on a strike, allegedly in contravention of an agreement struck in August. The workers of the plant, located in an industrial complex in Durgapur’s Coke Oven area, were demanding a pay hike and other benefits. “It is almost impossible for me to run the factory in the face of threats from workers and INTTUC leaders at our plant,” Agarwal said. “They have struck work three times since June. They also beat up workers who wanted to work. I have written to Mamata Banerjee seeking her intervention.” Recently, members of a club linked to Trinamul allegedly threatened to close down the local branch of RICE, which trains government job aspirants for competitive exams, if the institute did not “donate” Rs 10,000 for the club’s development. Agarwal’s plant manufactures 80,000 wheel rims and 21 lakh spokes every month. It employs around 100 workers. The plant has 85 permanent workers who get salaries between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000. The casual workers earn Rs 100 a day. Agarwal said workers who had earlier been with the CPM-backed Citu had switched over to the INTTUC in June. He said the management and the trade union had signed an agreement in August this year, saying no extra money would be paid for loading and unloading jobs. “The agreement is valid till December 31, 2012. The workers had agreed not to make new demands or call strikes till then. Unfortunately, we are facing disruptions now,’’ Agarwal said. The Durgapur Small Scale Industries Association condemned the incident. Its president Samir Basu said: “We held a series of discussions with the management and workers but nothing fruitful happened.” Satish Roy, INTTUC general secretary, said the management had unlawfully shut the factory without informing the union. “Our demands are justified but we don’t want to hamper production,” he said. Another leader claimed some Citu activists had joined the INTTUC to harm Trinamul’s image. “We will take steps against them,’’ he said.

Mamata Banerjee's partymen are engaged in all sorts of extortion, arm-twisting to terrorise West Bengal people so that they can't express their dissent over the misrule of her Government.