Kicking Up A Fuss

THE news of the assault by Bata union officials on the company's expatriate managing director, Keith Weston, on July 22, came as a shock to corporate circles in West Bengal. Weston was manhandled and gheraoed for two hours after the attack, in a bleeding and injured condition.

Interestingly, Weston's assault has united party and trade union leaders in the worker-friendly state in their unequivocal condemnation of the incident. Subrata Mukherjee, the West Bengal INTUC president, and Chittabrata Majumdar, the CITU state secretary, have both come out strongly against the incident. Said chief minister Jyoti Basu: "Such actions can't be tolerated in a civili-sed society. We can't tolerate coercion and indiscipline in the guise of trade unionism."

Thanks to the immediate intervention by the chief minister, a substantial police force was deployed in Batanagar, and Weston, along with senior managers, escorted safely to Calcutta from Batanagar. Said M.J.Z. Mowla, senior vice-president, Bata: "We have received very prompt and adequate response from the state administration and are confident the culprits will be brought to book."

Basu's reaction shows that it's finally time for reality check in West Bengal. At a time when the state is actively wooing foreign and domestic investment, attacks on senior executives, particularly expats, could be a kiss of death for the state's economic growth. Several such incidents in the past, where workers have actually gone scotfree even after being guilty, have added to the image of the state being anti-industry.

The Bata incident originated in 1996, when three executive members of the Bata Mazdoor Union—two CITU members and the third, an independent—were charge-sheeted and suspended for assaulting the chief labour welfare officer of the company. According to Mowla, the external inquiry officer had found all three guilty as charged and the company decided to hand over letters of dismissal to them on July 22.

That day Weston had called a meeting with his all-India marketing and production managers at the Batanagar factory. But when the three employees came to know that they were to be served with termination letters, they requested a short meeting with Weston. The Bata union executive committee is divided equally among INTUC and CITU with three independents holding the balance of voting power. At the meeting, all 41 executive committee members belonging to both the unions were present. The employees handed over a memorandum demanding the withdrawal of the dismissal letter and when this was refused, they assaulted Weston, said Mowla.

In the ensuing scuffle, Weston suffered a deep cut on his left palm. This has been confirmed by the police. Later, Weston and other top officials were gheraoed for two hours by the union members. Weston has accused Arup Dutta, a CITU leader, and Krishnendu Goswami, one of the three marked for dismissal, of the assault.

The Bata incident also marks a radical change from the days when indiscipline by workers was condoned by union leaders. For instance, when the newly appointed Philips MD was prevented from entering the factory by the workers, no action was taken. Soon after, Philips decided to close down its West Bengal unit. Similarly, when the Royal Calcutta Golf Club was ransacked as a sequel to police firing, the culprits went scotfree. When contacted, Subrata Mukherjee said: "The three who were suspended and a small section of the Bata CITU union members brought in about 300 goons from outside to intimidate the management. " He also feared that if such incidents are repeated, the management can justifiably declare a lockout in its Batanagar factory.

The suspension or the termination of services of the three committee members has not affected the morale of the workers at Batanagar. Production was normal on the day of the assault as well as the following day. But now, the locals and even corporate circles are keeping their fingers crossed that this incident does not force the 55-year old factory, synonymous with modern Bengal, to down shutters. Batanagar is the largest Bata factory in the world producing five lakh pairs of shoes per week. It directly employs 6,500 workers and indirectly provides livelihood to another two lakh. Some Batanagar workers claim a section of the Batanagar CITU union bosses have been terrorising workers and extorting payments from them. Though a majority of the executive committee members are opposed to this mafia ring, they are afraid to oppose them. Now that the state administration has taken a clear stand on the issue, workers are hoping for a change in the climate of fear in Batanagar.