CALCUTTA, July 25: Bata Mazdoor Union (BMU) president R Majumdar on Saturday announced his resignation from his post in protest against the rise in militant trade unionism in the company. Majumdar, a member of the Indian National Trade Unions Congress (INTUC), blamed some local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the assault on Bata managing director K Weston on July 22, and the subsequent wildcat strike.INTUC president Subrata Mukherjee supported Majumdar's resignation and cited several reasons behind his quitting.Mukherjee stressed that there is no place for "irresponsible trade union movement in West Bengal" and pointed out that the present trade union movement at Bata India Ltd's factory at Batanagar near Calcutta is "without the consent of the particular union and against the sentiments" of the 6000-strong workforce.However, N Kanjilal, general secretary of the BMU is learnt to have taken a diametrically opposite view of the whole situation.Both Mukherjee and Majumdar feltthat some local CPI(M) party leaders at Batanagar were interfering with the trade union activities of the company. Majumdar said that the so-called strike that followed the assault on Weston was "forced on the workers".He felt that the Bata MazdoorUnion stands isolated as of now and supported his statement by pointing out that never before has a strike been declared illegal by the company management.
