The Grave Diggers

It could happen only in Bengal. Left Front leaders have gone into a self-congratulatory mode over the completion of their 22 years in power. During which time, the state has sunk to 12th in terms of industrial investment, 16th in terms of education and 22nd in investor preference. Labour militancy is played down, but recent developments in the coal industry indicate that even in this, the state is overplaying its hand.

The 64 sick mines under the Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ecl) have been referred back to the bifr and the jobs of nearly 1.4 lakh workers face the axe. When the Centre first announced plans in November to close the mines in the Bengal-Bihar border areas that were losing around Rs 553 crore a year, the state government vehemently protested the move that would have resulted in the direct and indirect loss of livelihood for over 11 lakh people. Dilip Ray, minister of state for coal, met chief minister Jyoti Basu to work out the modalities of a package to protect the economy as well as the interest of workers.

The package agreed on the closure of 20 heavily losing mines, vrs for 16,000 workers, early retirement for employees over 55 and linking wages with a 15 per cent increase in output. Basu "had kindly agreed to advise the unions to negotiate implementation of the alternate package", wrote Ray in a recent letter to him to remind the chief minister of his earlier commitment.

Curiously, even after the agreement, neither Basu nor the Left Front explained the prospects of the mines' closure and job loss to the workers. In fact, a proposal for state takeover of some of the mines, with all their past baggage, was also considered. Local authorities made it clear that the unions wouldn't even agree to pay cuts.

What followed is obvious. Coal India Ltd (cil) and the ecl management, at the apex joint consultative committee meetings, met central trade union representatives to ensure the implementation of the alternate package. It was stressed that ecl was losing Rs 1.5 crore daily and was finding it hard to meet statutory liabilities, which could jeopardise the fate of 1.4 lakh workers eventually. After the central unions like citu, intuc and aituc refused to accept the closure of mines or the job losses, a second package was worked out in February. The proposals: vrs for employees over 55 years in age, wage freeze at the level of December '98 till June 2001, no leave travel allowance for two years and single payment for Sunday work with staggered day of rest. Even this was found unacceptable by the unions.

Ray has, therefore, informed Basu that as the unions reject even the latest proposals, all options are closed. Any of the packages would have meant minimum hardship and rigour for employees. In fact, cil authorities had indicated that if the packages went through, it would consider further investment for ecl mines. cil chairman P.K. Sengupta told Outlook, "Now there's no choice but to approach bifr again. Here, options for both management and labour will be much reduced, as only bifr directives would have to be implemented. And much precious time has been lost, with ecl losing a fresh sum of Rs 400 crore up to January. "

How do the unions react? Says Chittabrata Majumdar, citu general secretary: "I do not know the details of talks with the management, nor why the unions did not agree to the proposals. However, discussions must continue till a solution is found." An aituc leader is more vocal: "Is getting rid of the workers the only solution for ecl's problems? What about the useless import of costly equipment, undermanning the underground production process and inducting relatives and friends of managers as workers who remain only on paper?"

While some of these charges are true, the ecl muddle has made it clear that the party in power has no control over its own unions that are getting away with destructive militancy. When three Bata employees criminally beat up their chief executive, Basu announced that the miscreants would be arrested. They were not and continue to work as before. When a handful of employees held the Regional Provident Fund office at ransom and went on a month's strike, the state government remained a mute spectator. By failing to exert its authority, the Left Front has often worked against the common man who is threatened by closures or lockout. With the result that over 61,000 units have closed down in Bengal during Left rule, throwing about 5 lakh people out of work. Bengal is the only state where the number of factory workers has gone down in recent years, even as the Left has played on its worker-friendly tunes. Is it any wonder then that ecl is about to meet the same fate?