BSNL's share offer unites unions against divestment

Central PSE unions join hands with BSNL staff.

Inspired by the tough stand of the employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) against plans for the company's initial public offer (IPO), Central Public Sector Trade Unions (CPSTUs) are gearing up for a nationwide strike on the issue of disinvestment.

"CPSTUs are meeting in Hyderabad on February 17 and 18. Apart from wage settlement, the government's disinvestment efforts will be discussed. We are contemplating an all-India strike in CPSUs," said Dipankar Mukherjee, secretary of the CITU, the CPI(M)'s trade union arm.

The board of telecom public sector major BSNL "" the company had an annual revenue of around Rs 40,000 crore last year "" had decided to offer 10 per cent equity through an IPO.

This has been strongly resisted by the employees union, which has announced a strike. The union is convinced the IPO plan is off "" the telecom ministry denied yesterday that the IPO would be floated anytime soon "" because of their inflexibility about the indefinite strike from February 26.

The BSNL disinvestment has to be approved by the Cabinet. Whether this approval has been sought is not known.

VAN Namboodiri, convener of the joint forum of 13 unions of the company, said, "We have not heard officially from the government that they have stalled the disinvestment process. We will start our strike from February 26. We will serve the notice for the strike on February 24."

Namboodiri said the officers and executives would join the strike. "Two out of the 13 unions belong to the executives. They have agreed to join us," he said. The forum claimed the BSNL authorities had last year assured there would be no disinvestment in the company.

The Left trade unions and the BSNL union have rejected the government's logic for disinvestment. "The company has a reserve and surplus of Rs 40,000 crore. Last year, it earned a profit of nearly Rs 8,000 crore. There is no shortage of funds for investment," says Namboodiri.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram's role is also being questioned. "This money will go to the consolidated fund of India and Chidambaram can use it to fund the Budget. The disinvestment proposal was approved because of pressure from the finance ministry," says Mukherjee.

The Left parties are also opposed to this kind of disinvestment. The Left insists that if funds are needed for expansion, the company should approach the debt market rather than the capital market.

Namboodiri has threatened that almost 3,15,000 workers will go on strike from February 26.