Chinsurah, Oct. 13: Tension is brewing at Hindusthan Motors ? the only car manufacturing unit in Bengal ? over the management?s decision to pay the bonus in two instalments.

Pending salary is also an issue. Half of the Rs 2,490 bonus was paid on October 10. The rest will be given after Kali Puja.

Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI MP and president of the major workers? union at Hindmotor, wrote to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee late last week and sought his intervention for the 6,000 workers.

Dasgupta, who held a meeting with leaders of the Aituc-affiliated Sangrami Shramik Karmachari Union (SSKU) on Saturday, said the management had violated an agreement with the union.

?The management is not paying the salaries to the workers every month. But they had promised to clear all the pending salaries before the Pujas. Now, they (management) are not keeping their word,? he said.

Significantly, Dasgupta ruled out the possibility of any agitation disrupting production.

Union secretary B.. Pathak said: ?We have objected to the management?s decision to pay the bonus in two instalments because in earlier years we have always received the bonus as a one-time payment.?

The management issued a circular on Friday, saying it would pay bonus at the rate of 8.33 per cent in two halves.

?We are the only registered union at the factory. But the management did not consult us before taking the decision of paying bonus in two instalments. The Citu (CPM?s labour arm), which is a minority in our factory, has lost their capacity to bargain with the management after their defeat in the elections two years ago. They (Citu) are, however, aware of the management?s decision,? Pathak complained.