Bid to merge two TMC tea unions on... TDPWU leaders have joined TTPWU says Joachim Buxla

SNS, Siliguri, 6 February 2014: Just ahead of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Siliguri, the Trinamul Tea Plantation Workers’ Union (TTPWU) affiliated to the ‘mainstream’ INTTUC and led by Ms Dola Sen is drawing into its fold another trade union of the party, the Terai Dooars Plantation Workers’ Union (TDPWU) led by the party’s MLA Mr Sovandeb Chattopadhaya.

Notably, Miss Banerjee wanted to see one single trade union of the party in the tea plantation sector.

TTPWU president, Mr Joachim Buxla, today said leaders associated with the TDPWU of 42 organised tea plantations and around 3,000 members of small tea plantations in the Terai and North Dinajpur areas joined his trade union.

“We wanted to amalgamate the two organisations, but failed to do so because of some unavoidable reasons. But we will hold a convention soon to rope them in officially,” Mr Buxla said. He held a meeting with the leaders and members of the two organisations here today.

TTPWU working president Mr Alok Chakraborty said the Trinamul Congress-backed-TTPWU will work for the interests of the workers. “We have decided to serve a memorandum to the state government, demanding reasonable increment in the workers’ wages, based on the present price index. The state government should get directly involved in the pay hike just like the Kerala and Tamil Nadu state governments did,” Mr Chakraborty said.

According to him, the state government in Kerala interfered in the matter and asked the planters to fix the minimum wages for the workers. “The state should follow the Assam government’s moves in allotting food grains for the workers,” he added.

He said his organisation will demand that the state provide the food grains top the tea workers at prices fixed for people living below the poverty line.

Highlighting the plight of the tea workers, particularly the lack of health care facilities in tea plantations, TTPWU president Mr Joachim Buxla said they have begun talks with the state government to bring tea plantations under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).