Merger meet for tea unions

TT, Siliguri, Feb. 17: Leaders of three tea trade unions allegiant to Trinamul, INTTUC, Trinamul Tea Plantation Workers' Union and Dooars Terai Plantation Labour Union, will have a meeting on Thursday for a merger.

Sourav Chakraborty, the Jalpaiguri district Trinamul president, today said that he had been assigned with the task of presiding over the meeting and taking a final decision by the state leadership.

"Our party supremo has always insisted on a single union of Inttuc in the tea industry. But because of some reason or other, these three unions, which kept on operating simultaneously in the brew belt could not be merged," Chakraborty said today.

"However, the state leadership, both of the party and Inttuc, have taken a decision on the issue and accordingly, I have been instructed to sit with leaders of all three unions and finalise the merger. A meeting will be held on February 19," he added.

INTTUC sources said, last week, representatives of INTTUC, Trinamul Tea Plantation Workers' Union and Dooars Terai Plantation Labour Union had gone to Calcutta.

"They met INTTUC state president and minister Subrata Mukherjee in Calcutta and discussed the prospects of merging the unions. It was also decided that a new name would be given to the single union," a Trinamul leader based in Siliguri said.

"On February 19, an adhoc committee comprising representatives of all these unions is likely to be formed for the new proposed union. It is likely to be named as National Plantation Workers' Union," he added.

"Subrata Mukherjee will be in Siliguri on February 20 to attend the next round of tripartite talks on tea wage at Uttarkanya. It has been decided that if the decision is taken on the merger, he would be informed during his visit or else, representatives of the proposed committee will visit Calcutta to apprise him of the new union. Being the state Inttuc president, he would make the formal announcement," a Trinamul source said.

The desperation on the part of Trinamul to merge all its tea unions is because of the strict stance taken by the anti-Trinamul trade unions. They have formed the Joint Forum and demanded that the state should fix a minimum wage for tea workers or else, they will not sit for talks.

"Lack of Trinamul's organisational base in tea estates has left some of the state leaders infuriated. They are finding it tough to digest that despite Trinamul being in power, the anti-Trinamul unions are speaking the last word on behalf of tea workers at the tripartite talks," an observer said.

"They have thus expedited this exercise of merging these unions with the anticipation that it would give Inttuc and Trinamul, a better foothold in tea industry."