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A storm is brewing in West Bengal between Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the CPI(M) and its trade union wing , the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on whether the Information Technology sector should be accorded the status of essential services. And whether it should be kept out of trade union activities? Bhattacharya says yes to both. The IT sector is an important part of his agenda for the economic revival of Bengal. But CITU, the Trade union wing of CPI(M), says no. Even former CM Jyoti Basu says the rights of workers cannot be curbed.

There are clear rifts inside the party on this issue. Of late, there has been much debate over whether it is desirable to have unions in the IT sector. While central trade unions say the formation of unions was a prerequisite to protect the rights of those working in the IT sector, senior management of large IT firms have said no third party intervention is required for resolving disputes.

The recently formed West Bengal IT Services Association (WBISA) has not only rung an alarm bell in the city’s IT hub, but it has also raised furrows on the forehead of the Bhattacharya government that had promised to keep the 24X7 industry out of the clutches of militant trade unionism. There are fears now of the IT equity capital flying out of Bengal.

But the CPI(M) has suggested a bizarre formula on this issue. It’s asking trade unions to export unionism to other states! “Bengal should not suffer. If the association is limited to the state, it can trigger a flight of capital. So, the employees’ body should gain a foothold in IT and ITES sectors in other states as well to give Bengal a level-playing ground,” says Benoy Konar, a senior member of the CPI(M) state secretariat and a central committee member. Nice answer; one just hopes poverty and ill-health aren’t the next “exports” coming our way.