Tea unions reject state hike offer - Leaders say strike plan will stay after Ghatak offers Rs 40 raise in three years

TT, Siliguri, Nov. 6: The majority of tea garden unions in north Bengal have decided to go ahead with their industry strike later this month, unhappy with the state’s proposal of a staggered wage hike of Rs 40.

At a meeting with tea union members yesterday in Calcutta, state labour minister Malay Ghatak had appealed to them to withdraw the strikes demanding the wage revision due since April.

Twenty-three tea unions, barring Trinamul’s labour arm, have called a two-day industry strike on November 11 and 12 across north Bengal. Another 12-hour general strike has been planned in the districts of North Dinajpur, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar and in Mekhliganj subdivision of Cooch Behar district on November 12. These are the places with the maximum concentration of tea gardens.

The unions have ruled out withdrawing either strike.

Ghatak today said over phone from Calcutta: “At the meeting, we told trade unions leaders that negotiations on wage hike were on and they should withdraw the strike. We also mentioned that planters were ready for an increase of Rs 35 in wages in phases over the next three years, while the government wanted a staggered hike of Rs 40 (over three years). The union leaders said they would speak to workers on the rates and take a decision.”

The Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers, the largest conglomeration of tea unions, had asked for a daily wage of Rs 322, up from Rs 95 in the Dooars and Rs 90 in the hills.

The planters had first said that they would give a staggered hike of Rs 21 in three years — meaning a hike of Rs 7 in wages every year for the next three years — a proposal the unions said was “unacceptable”.

Six rounds of tripartite talks involving the labour department, planters’ associations and trade unions have been held on the wage revision, but to no avail.

Ghatak today said that another tripartite meeting would be held in Siliguri on November 22 and 23 to discuss the wage revision.

The tea unions said they would attend the meeting, but added that barring a breakthrough before November 11, which seems unlikely, they would go ahead with the strikes.

Ghatak had proposed the increase of Rs 40, with a hike of Rs 18 in the first year and Rs 11 each in the following two years. The unions rejected the proposal.

Chitta Dey, the convenor of the Co-ordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers, said: “Our agitation has already begun, and from tomorrow there will be protests and demonstrations on every tea estate in the region. The planters are not ready to revise wages at an acceptable rate, while the government is not saying anything on fixing a minimum pay for the tea industry.”

He said: “We would go ahead with the strike, unless there is a major development in the days to come.”

Ghatak had said on Sunday that names for a committee to be formed to fix a minimum wage in the tea industry had been finalised and once they were approved by the chief minister’s office, the panel would be asked to recommend the rate in six months.

Another trade union leader said the unions would attend the next tripartite meeting. “However, we cannot give a commitment to the government on withdrawal of the strikes unless we speak to workers at grassroots. There is no question of taking a unilateral decision.”

The BJP postponed the general strike it had called in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts tomorrow for an agreement on the wage hike to November 10.