A wave of militant actions by jute workers has swept through the jute mills of West Bengal, shaking the exploitative managements and established trade unions particularly CITU. Centres of prolonged closures with entailing hardships as these mills have become, repeatedly, fresh attacks by managements on jobs and wages, seem to be goading workers beyond endurance.

There have been a sequence of such incidents, all disconnected except that the industry, the exploitation, a fresh attack and anger are the common thread. The workers involved have invariably been badli workers or regular workers who face an attack on the precious permanence of jobs. On 15th October 2000, at the Dalhousie Mill in Champadari in Hoogly, the management tried to introduce a ‘trainee system’ which was perceived as an attack on job security. Though relations between owners and workers in this particular factory had not been so bad earlier, the workers rose en mass. They attacked the managerial staff and also began hunting for CITU and INTUC union leaders with the conviction that these unions had agreed to the management’s plans as claimed by the management. The unions’ leaders fled the scene; the next day, the factory was closed down, but these leaders did not dare to return to get the Mill reopened. Eventually the workers contacted IFTU (which had no union earlier in this Mill); subsequently the IFTU union forced reopening of the Mill and also withdrawal of the trainee system.

On 13th January 2001 at 11 am a similar incident took place at the Baranagar Jute Mill in North 24 Parganas, which employs 3500 workers. This one however, brings out the edge to the workers’ anger more clearly, as also the callousness and brutality of the owners. This is a very old mill; initially it had a British management. It has seen several owners and is now owned by Govind Sharda – who owned the Nellimarla Mill in Andhra at the time when five workers were killed there in police firing. The Baranagar Mill had reopened in December 2000 after a nine month long closure and following an agreement between Sharda and nine unions led by CITU with the express agreement that the Mill would work with full strength as at the time of closure.

Since the reopening, the ‘zero voucher’ workers and badli workers had been carrying on peaceful agitation for employment, wages and regularization- all issues which were part of the agreement, but were ignored by the owner and not being pursued by the Unions or by the Labour Dept. (Zero voucher workers are terribly exploited workers. They are listed but do not figure even on muster rolls. They work several hours a day, earning between Rs. 30 to Rs. 100 for jobs for which a regular workers would earn about Rs. 230.) On 13th January 2001 too, a Dharna was on, and there was a fresh attack on some badli jobs. The workers sitting on dharna went en-mass to meet the management to force talks and in doing so, broke open the gate of the Managers’ Enclosure in the office. At this, the Chief Executive Manager took out a revolver and simply shot dead a badli worker, Bhola Das, on the spot. The sight of their dead comrade and the brutality and arrogance of the management evidently proved to be the last straw. The enraged workers pounced on this Manager and the Personnel Manager injuring some officers in the process, tied these two to their chairs and burnt them in retaliation. Union leaders were not on the scene. Interestingly the ‘Left’ Front Govt. has lodged cases against six of the workers, but there have been no cases lodged against the management. There was not even condemnation from them or their unions against the cold blooded killing of Bhola Das which was the terrible immediate provocation.

Gondalpara Jute Mill workers next took up cudgels in a similar militant manner showing that even criminal cases and police harassment can no longer tie back the outbursts of anger. On the morning of 27th March this year, a badli worker, Vijay Tanti, lost three fingers of his right hand while at work on an old spinning wheel. Around 100 badli workers immediately surrounded the management demanding that the bleeding worker be admitted to the ESI Hospital. The background is that this has been their long pending demand that the badli workers be entitled to ESI facilities which will also ensure automatic compensation for injuries. The management has been refusing to agree and the Union leaders of various existing unions also seem to have toed the management’s line.

Accordingly on 27th March this year too the management refused the demand of the workers, though the concerned worker had lost three fingers. The enraged workers beat up the Chief Personnel Manager, some officers and some union leaders (including CITU) who were present. The management called the police, which lathicharged the workers, including the injured worker. The workers then stormed the offices of the managers and of the unions, injuring some managers. This is one of the oldest industries, and even badli and other ‘temporary’ workers here have close links with or are relatives of the older, permanent workers.

The way the workers have repeatedly targeted collaborationist TU leaders along with managements, heralds a fresh willingness to look for avenues of struggle. For long the workers have tolerated the collaborationist leadership and they are now willing to look beyond them. From these outbursts of anger would emerge the material with which to build and develop the Revolutionary TU Movement in the industry. It is a welcome development with a lot of potential.

New Democracy spoke to Com. Paltu Sen, President IFTU, on the rising militancy among jute workers in Bengal. He said:

“Especially in the Jute industry, in the past six to seven months, a trend is visible that workers are reacting to the extra-legal exploitation by owners or to violations of the existing system. They are defying established TU leadership, and are resorting to militant forms of movement. Leaving aside the militant form, the trend of defiance of existing leadership can be seen for past five to six years. Kanoria, Hanuman Jute Mill, India Jute Mill – all in Bengal – are some glaring examples. The recent development is that they are not only disowning existing leadership but breaking out and taking militant forms of revolt. Examples are Hukamchand Jute Mill, then Hoogly Jute Mill, Kelvin Jute Mill, then Dalhousie, Barangar and lastly Gondalpara. In the last three, the nature of the issue was same, i.e. introduction of voucher workers or trainee system. Another similarity is that in all cases the established union leaders were chased away by the workers and even assaulted.