Chennai, Sep 2 - At a time when multinationals with manufacturing bases in India are unwilling to recognise worker unions, the labour wing of Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK has got a leg up over its rivals in its expansion srategies.

The Labour Progressive Front (LPF) is planning to promote unions in companies located in the Oragadam-Sriperumbudur belt near here where many multinational firms have set up their Indian plants.

Finnish mobile phone handset maker Nokia India agreed, at a reconciliation meeting held Aug 24 at the Labour Commissioner's office, to negotiate with the LPF affiliated Nokia India Employees Progressive Union (NIEPU).

'Nokia India officials agreed to talk to NIEPU office bearers. In a way that is recognition of the union. We will be expanding our base within and without Tamil Nadu,' LPF leader and former DMK MP C. Kuppusamy told IANS.

'We will be expanding our base in Tamil Nadu as nearly one third of the workers in all the factories belong to the DMK. We intend to start our unions in companies like Hyundai Motor India, Ford India, MRF and others,' added a confident Kuppusamy.

LPF has a total of 693 affiliated unions with around 700,000 members.

Agreeing that LPF affiliated unions were largely in state and central government undertakings and sugar mills, Kuppusamy said the situation was expected to change soon.

Asked about the challenges in dealing with multinationals as compared to government undertakings, he said: 'The challenges are the same - negotiating for the betterment of workers.