CITU ready at Tata plant, now to 'protect' the malik

To keep rival unions at bay, and particularly those of the Trinamool Congress and other parties which oppose industry on farmland, the CPI(M)'s trade union wing, is ready to establish its unit at the plant immediately after the first Nano rolls out of the factory in October.

Citu's Singur plant unit, which has been cleared by the national as well as the West Bengal leadership, is aimed at pre-empting any similar move by the opposition Trinamool Congress so that it cannot get a foothold in the plant. Initially, the union will be formed by persons who are not employed by the plant.

Dilip Chatterjee, the Citu's Hooghly district leader, told The Indian Express: "We are ready to float our union. Right now, we can't form the union as production is yet to begin and the factory has not been completed. But everything is ready and we will launch our unit immediately after the first small car leaves the factory."

CITUsources said party heavyweights like Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and national leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, who are at present attending the 19th Party Congress at Coimbatore, have been informed about the trade union's decision.

All of them have given CITUthe green signal.

The CITUhas already made inroads at the plant site by getting support from construction workers. With Singur being a Trinamool Congress stronghold, the CPM and CITUare taking no chances with the project, held by the chief minister as the harbinger of the engineering industry's resurgence.

"Nearly 500 people from Singur villages will get jobs in the factory. At present, more than 1,000 people are engaged in the construction of the small car factory and all of them are members of our union," Dilip Chatterjee said.

He said CITUalso plans to set up its units at the ancillary factories that will be attached to the Tata Motors plant.

"We have a feeling that most of those who are working to construct the Tata factory will get jobs in ancillary units as well as in the mother plant. All these workers are members of the Paschimbanga Nirmankarmi Union, which is affiliated to Citu," Chatterjee said.

At present, Citu and Trinamool-backed organisations are working together at the plant site, supplying truckloads of construction material for the factory's shades and various shops.

Earth filling and road networks are also underway with the deadline approaching fast. There are syndicates in operation who have bagged contracts to supply bricks, sand, labour and other material.