``Corporate inhouse magazines are usually just filled with pictures; they do not encourage debate and avoid controversy,'' observed Bennet D'Costa, general secretary of the Hindustan Lever Employees' Union. The monthly is to be distributed through the unions to all HLL units in India, which employ at least 12,000 workers plus another 12,000 in the corporate's tea gardens in Tamil Nadu and Assam. The magazine has none of the rag-tag, low-cost feel of the newsletters that cash-strapped unions are forced to bring out, but is eminently reader-friendly.

``We wanted to work against the attitude that if amagazine is for workers, it is low in quality,'' said D'Costa. ``Unilever plants are scattered all over India, and we require a medium to communicate with each other. It is very difficult to meet each other; besides, the company also puts impediments in the way of workers and victimises them if they wish to find out about wage settlements or similar goings-on in other units,'' he added.Lever's cover story looks at an issue staring employees, regardless of the colour of the collar, in the face: the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. There's also a section on safety and health, a column on workers' rights, snippets about happenings in different units plus international tid-bits. It has an initial print run of 2,000 in Hindi and 1,500 in English, and for now, is being distributed on a complementary basis.

``The workers get no other platform to discuss and debate. In the context of globalisation, we need to educate ourselves about different types of changes taking place. For instance, we also let our workers knowwhat is happening to Levers internationally, as it affects our workers as well,'' D'Costa told Express Newsline.

The magazine has got subscription offers from other corporate unions from Sydney and Melbourne. And, if logistics permit, the federation may even bring it out in Tamil and Bengali.