Govt tiptoes into tea deadlock

TT, Sept. 6: The state government tea directorate has said it will speak to tea estate owners and garden unions about a Puja bonus deadlock, showing the state's inclination to wade into one of the industry's problems for the first time.

The decision on the tea bonus is generally made after several rounds of talks between labour unions of gardens in north Bengal and the owners of the estates.

Sourav Chakraborty, the chairman of the newly formed tea directorate, said the state would not interfere in or influence any decision on the bonus, which is a result of bipartite meetings, but the state would like to know about the positions adopted by both sides.

The state was showing interest, Chakraborty said, because the Pujas are barely a month away.

The next round of bipartite talks between the owners and the unions is on September 9.

"Two rounds of bipartite talks on fixing the bonus rates have been held between planters' associations and trade unions. They could not reach at consensus," Chakraborty said today.

"To ensure that the rates are finalised in the third round of talks and the process is not delayed, particularly because only three-four weeks are left ahead of Durga Puja, officials of the state labour department have taken up the task of speaking with representatives of the planters' associations to know what they can offer at best and their constraints," he said.

"On the other hand, elected representatives like us are speaking with tea trade unions to know their demands and how they justify the rates," he added.

The first two rounds of talks were held in Calcutta on August 20-21 and September 4.

In both the meetings, the trade unions demanded that planters pay bonus at the rate of 20 per cent of the annual wage in all tea estates.

Tea estates are divided into four categories - A, B, C and D - on the basis of parameters such as annual production, plantation area and workforce.

For past couple of years, the industry has paid bonus at a flat rate of 20 per cent rate in all gardens irrespective of which category they fall in.

This year, the planters proposed to pay the bonus at 13.5 per cent for Grade A gardens, 12 per cent for B, 11 per cent for Grade C and 9 per cent for Grade D gardens in the first round of talks.

When the unions struck to their demand of a 20 per cent flat rate, the owners revised the percentages to 15 per cent, 13.5 per cent, 12 per cent and 10 per cent and placed this proposal in the second round of talks.

"The trade unions still insisted on a 20 per cent bonus in all gardens. That is why the third round of talks has been scheduled," Amitangshu Chakraborty, the convener of the state committee of Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations, said.

"The trade unions must understand the reality. This year, there has been a huge crop loss in most of the gardens because of inclement weather in the beginning of the season, followed by floods and inundation. Plantations in a number of gardens were eroded away by rivers. Considering the loss that the industry has to bear, we have proposed the best rates."

Tea trade unions don't buy the theory. "Planters make hefty profits round the year but when it comes to bonus payment or revision of wages, they keep citing losses," Mani Kumar Darnal, the joint general secretary of the Intuc-backed National Union of Plantation Workers, said. "Prices in tea auctions have been good and also there has not been any enormous loss in production. There is no reason for the planters to pay bonus at a lesser rate than last year."

On Thursday, the Joint Forum, a common platform of 24 tea trade unions, will organise protests in all tea estates of the region on the bonus issue, he said.

The state wants the issue to be resolved at the September 9 meeting, Chakraborty said. "We are requesting both the sides to be flexible during the talks," he said.

Sources in the state labour department said there were indications that if no decision was made on the bonus rates on September 9, state labour minister Malay Ghatak might intervene and call a tripartite meeting in Siliguri or Calcutta to settle the rates.

"The state wants tea workers to get their bonus at the earliest. Negotiations started about a fortnight back. If no decision is reached at the third meeting, the labour minister might intervene," a source said