TIRUCHY: TVK’s efforts to constitute a trade union wing has got a boost in the recent defection of members from the DMK, AIADMK, VCK and others to the ruling party as several of those who shifted loyalties were leaders of their respective party’s labour union movement.
Among the AIADMK-affiliated Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai (ATP), the DMK-backed Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) and the VCK’s Labour Liberation Front (LLF), and others, labour leaders contend that the ATP has been the most affected by the defections so far, a perception reinforced by the recent induction of its former state secretary A Kamalakannan into the TVK.
Elaborating on his reasons for leaving the AIADMK, Kamalakannan told TNIE, “I had been working in the party and the ATP for more than 40 years. After two consecutive defeats, many of us lost confidence in the leadership. There was also little engagement with trade union activities. Before I could formally resign, I was removed after being seen with a group associated with rebel AIADMK leaders.”
Further, he said TVK president and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s ideas aligned more with that of former AIADMK stalwart M G Ramachandran, under whom the ATP was founded.
Newly appointed ATP general secretary R Thamizharasan, however, rejected suggestions that the AIADMK’s labour base was witnessing a major exodus. “People joining the ruling party is not new. Those committed to the AIADMK’s ideals will remain with the party. Kamalakannan has taken a political decision that he believes will benefit him. At the grassroots level, members have not shifted in any substantial numbers,” he said.
Echoing Thamizharasan on defections to the ruling party not being unusual, Arumugam Nainar, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation (TSTEF), said, “Nearly 40% of the members tend to move towards the ruling party, be it the AIADMK or the DMK. Such movements are common across departments.”
Meanwhile, S Kannan, general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in Tamil Nadu, said that the emergence of more politically affiliated unions could weaken labour solidarity and workers’ bargaining power.
“We are yet to know the ideological position of the TVK’s proposed trade union. At the same time, it is evident on the ground that many of the recent defections from the ATP are linked to the proposed TVK labour wing,” he added.