A poster of a Trinamul-backed labour union outside an Intuc office in Durgapur. Picture by Gour Sharma

Durgapur, June 14: Members of the Congress-affiliated Intuc are under pressure to switch allegiance to the Trinamul Congress’s trade union wing in Burdwan’s industrial belt, an Intuc leader has alleged.

The Indian National Trinamul Trade Union Congress (Inttuc) is also trying to take over Intuc offices in a bid to dominate the district’s industrial belt, Bikash Ghatak, the district Intuc president (industrial), said.

Trinamul began targeting Intuc members after the election results were declared, he added.

“We have written a letter to Intuc president G. Sanjeeva Reddy and state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya about Trinamul’s pressure on our workers. Last week, Inttuc supporters tried to capture one of our offices outside the Alloy Steel Plant in Durgapur and later clashed with our workers. We have lodged a police complaint in this regard,” Ghatak said, adding that a copy of the letter had been sent to chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Intuc is one of the largest labour organisations here, second only to the CPM-affiliated Citu. Inttuc’s arm-twisting methods are being seen as an attempt to usurp Intuc’s position in the steel and coal sectors in the district. Its efforts may have been emboldened by Trinamul’s success in the polls. The party won six seats in the industrial belt.

On June 1, over 200 Inttuc members barged into the Intuc office outside the Alloy Steel Plant here, ransacked furniture, removed flags and photographs and put up a banner with Mamata’s portrait. They clashed with Intuc supporters when they resisted. An Intuc member had to be hospitalised.

Ghatak said: “The people voted in favour of the Trinamul and Congress alliance and no one should take the credit alone. The Citu earlier used to attack us and now the Inttuc is doing the same. This is very unfortunate.”

At Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), the Inttuc recently set up a union with 500 workers.

The Intuc assistant secretary at DSP, Debashis Chowdhury, alleged that most of the 500 workers had been threatened into joining the Inttuc union.

“Intuc and Citu are almost equally strong at DSP and Trinamul had no existence here. But after May 13, Inttuc set up a union and at the plant site with nearly 500 workers who were threatened and forcibly taken from us,” said Chowdhury.

On May 31, a group of Inttuc supporters allegedly ransacked an Intuc office at an Eastern Coalfields colliery workshop in Ranigunj and planted their flags and Mamata’s photographs there.

Later, local Intuc leader Debasish Roychowdhury lodged an FIR at Nimcha police outpost.

“The office was reopened and we took control of it after police and local Inttuc leaders intervened,” he said.