The International Metalworker's Federation hosted a meeting in Kolkata from March 24th - 27th
Michael J. Leahy, OBE, Community General Secretary and President of the Iron, Steel and non-ferrous metals section of the IMF chaired a meeting to discuss the projected growth of the Indian steel industry.
| Seated l-r, Michael Walsh, Head of Research Community, G Reddy, Michael J Leahy, OBE, Community, T. Dyvadheenam, Rob Johnston IMF |
Held in Kolkata, the meeting discussed the need to ensure that growth in the private sector was matched by an organising effort to prevent multinational corporations from using non-unionised workforces as a way to depressing wages in India and globally.
This is particularly relevant to Steel workers in the UK as Corus's parent company is the India based Tata Steel (the fifth largest steel producer globally).
Tata Steel in India has 38,000 employees, 4,000 of which are management. The remaining 34,000 employees are members of 25 different unions (By law Indian unions are organised around the workplace rather than the industry as in Britain).*
The largest union is the Tata Workers' Union (TWU) which has been recognised since 1920 and has not had an industrial dispute with management in over 75 years.
Community and the Tata Workers' Union are now in discussions to host a delegation of Indian union lay members visiting Britain.
*International Metalworkers' Federation Indian Steel Report
To read a copy of the report, visit the International Metalworker's Federation website