The CPI(M) is having a hard time digesting junior partner CPI's claim to a bigger share in trade union membership.
Wants govt to hold a secret ballot to determine membership exactly
NEW DELHI: The Communist party of India (Marxist) is having a hard time digesting junior partner CPI's claim to a bigger share in trade union membership. The party has, in fact, accused CPI leaders of manipulating figures to inflate the membership of the All India Trade Union Congress, its trade union wing.
According to labour ministry data, the AITUC has more than tripled its membership from nine lakh to 33 lakh in the last ten years. The membership of the CPI(M)-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions rose from 17 to 26 lakh in the same period. However, claiming that these figures are fudged, CITU bosses have taken the matter up with the government.
Membership of the Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress increased from 25 lakh to 38 lakh while the BJP-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the largest among trade unions, now has a membership of 60 lakh.
The figures have evoked questions from other quarters as well, with some asking how the membership figures could continue to rise when the size of the organised sector is declining and trade unionism is gradually disappearing on account of more job opportunities.
Repeatedly stressing that the figures lack authenticity, CITU general secretary and CPI(M) politburo member MK Pandhe has demanded that the government use the secret ballot method to determine membership. Currently, the trade unions submit membership figures to the ministry, which later verifies them independently.
According to Pandhe, the secret ballot option would be foolproof and less time consuming than the verification process.
Sources in the CPI(M) also say that had the government taken the membership of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (which has about 1.80 crore members) into account, the CITU membership would have shot up.
Workers in the unorganised sector have also not been included in the party's trade union wing. However, discounting the CPI(M)'s doubts, the CPI said the AITUC, which was formed 70 years ago, is one of the oldest trade unions and has more members.
The INTUC came into being in the sixties while the CITU, the youngest, was formed in the 70s.
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