Livid with the recognised unions for allegedly failing to adequately present their demands before the Fifth Pay Commission, about 170 of Mumbai's 700 motormen resigned from the Western and Central Railway Employees unions last week and set up the forum. With its proposed strike, the faction hopes to emphatically indicate that the motormen do not blindly accept the writ of the unions and are prepared to agitate on their own - even if it means making only a dent in real terms, for the time being at least.

The forum's constitution reflects a distinct break from earlier agitations being one of the rare occasions when a section of the labour force has revolted against its own unions apart from the railway administration. They are demanding revision ofwages and parity with various categories of railway employees.

The development has also cast a shadow over the efficacy of national-level unions like the National Railway Mazdoor Union and the All India Railway Federation (AIRF), which is a conglomeration of various regional employees' unions. ``The forum is a challenge to the unions, made possible by the unity of motormen,'' boasts its leader S V Hardikar. More than the resignations of its members, it is the manner in which the motormen broke away that has shocked the unions, he says.

Hardikar was the chairperson of the Churchgate branch of the Western Railway Employees' Union (WREU) till a fortnight ago. When he presented the administration the strike notice, the recognised union told Western Railway General Manager V D Gupta that Hardikar was no longer authorised to speak on their behalf.

An enraged mob of motormen from the Churchgate branch marched to the WREU's head office at Charni Road and presented one of its senior leaders P S Menon, withbangles in protest. Then they announced their resignations from the union as well. It is already planning to expand its base by roping in mail and express motormen into its fold.

But the recognised unions are trying to put up a brave front. ``This will only be an aberration in the history of the union movement,'' says Umraomal Purohit, one of the movement's legends and president of the AIRF. He says a bunch of motormen do not pose a threat to the 1.65-lakh-strong national union. ``History has shown that when a small section of people revolt, the revolution is crushed easily,'' he observes.

This is precisely what worries the forum's leaders, who know that Mumbai can be held to ransom even if a small section of motormen strike work but the question is: will they be able to sustain the agitation? ``It won't be easy, but it is still worth a try,'' says Hardikar.

Frustrating their efforts to pull off their proposed strike is the railway administration, which has begun training former motormen who have sincebeen promoted to the officer's grade. The Western Railway is training about 35 personnel and the Central Railway 25.

The means of the mutiny are also being questioned on ethical grounds, with the WREU alleging that some motormen are being browbeaten by the ``upstarts'' into supporting the forum. ``A lot of motormen have telephoned me to say that they are being threatened. But I can only help them if they come out in the open. We cannot support cowardice,'' says Purohit.

However, of more immediate concern is the success of the July 28 strike and some members of the forum have voiced their concerns in private. Allaying their fears, their leaders claim that if even 20 per cent of the motormen drop out of the agitation, it would be sufficient to disrupt rail services in the city. ``I know that my group can paralyse life in the country's commercial capital... the administration and the unions know it too, which is why they are worried,'' he says.

But it is unlikely that there will be any winners in thisagitation. The Pay Commission is not known to revise its recommendations and the Anomalies Committee, which considers complaints regarding the recommendations, is yet to announce its opinion on the forum's demands.

The forum will meet with members of the Railway Board in New Delhi this week to discuss the issue despite objections from some quarters that the board should talk with the recognised unions only.

The forum's leaders say that if the July 28 strike does not take off, all will not be lost. They say the battle will be over but the war is yet to be won.