The Centre has found an unexpected ally in the Indian National Trade Union Congress, in the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board. The stand by INTUC is totally at variance from that of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge who characterised the Essential Defence Services Act (EDSA) as a “plot to privatise” ordnance factories.

Speaking to BusinessLine , INTUC national president G Sanjeeva Reddy said corporatisation, which is what the new law ushers into the defence manufacturing sector, may not necessarily mean privatisation. “Privatisation is one question and converting a department into a corporation is another issue. We think that a corporation with complete Government control will be beneficial to workers. The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) was also formed from a Government department, but it is now beneficial for workers,” said the trade union leader.

‘Diversity in opinion’

Asked about the example of BSNL, he said it is a sick unit and it cannot be compared with profit-making ventures such as ordnance factories. “These corporations will be profitable like the BHEL,” he said. Reddy added that BMS (the RSS’s labour wing) and Left-backed Trade Unions want to politicise everything. “I don’t want to politicise this. I see the reality. Trade union unity will continue but we will have our different opinions on issues,” he added.

INTUC’s stance is critical in breaking the joint trade union action by the BMS-supported Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS), the Left-backed AITUC-CITU-HMS initiative called the All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) which are the recognised federations in the OFB, which are against the corporatisation and the Essential Defence Services Act, which prohibits strikes.

The Act supplanted an Ordinance on June 30 to the same effect and prohibited an indefinite strike called by all unions in OFB, including the INTUC. The Act provides punishment for violating the prohibition order with up to one year imprisonment or ₹10,000 fine, or both.

The three ordnance factory federations had gone on an indefinite strike in August, 2019. They held a strike ballot between June 8 and June 17 this year to assess the response of 82,000 defence workers and they got support for another indefinite strike, which was to begin from July 26. But before that, the Centre brought the Ordinance ahead of the strike.

Other trade unions have, on their part, accused INTUC of creating confusion and unrest among workers. BMS leader Mukesh Singh and general secretary of Left leaning All India Defence Employees Federations C Srikumar, condemning INTUC’s stance, said they are planning to go to court separately against the Essential Defence Services Act.

“At the beginning, these corporations will be under the Government. But in due course, according to policy, in strategic sectors there will be only four PSUs. Already there are nine PSUs under the Defence Ministry. If they add seven more, which four among the 16 PSUs will remain under the Government? In SPMCIL, government ensures workload on nomination basis. But in defence factories, there is no such assurance. So the logic of the INTUC wouldn’t hold ground. The writing is clear on the wall. The Centre wants to privatise the OFB,” Srikumar claimed.

However, according to Ashok Singh, the Uttar Pradesh unit president of the INTUC, there was no option before the OFB federations as the Defence Minister told them in a meeting that no discussion will be possible on the issue.

“He said discussion on working conditions is possible. So we were helpless. I gave 19 points for discussion on working conditions of OFB workers. The Defence Minister said he will consider those points. Other federations have different views. But we have to protect the workers and the industry,” Singh said and added that in the case of SPMCIL, the INTUC ensured maximum benefits to employees who opted to go with the corporatisation.

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