Minimum 20% tea bonus cry - Morcha union demand before meet

Vivek Chhetri, TT,Darjeeling, Sept. 14: The tea union backed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has said it will not accept anything less than a 20 per cent bonus rate for all tea gardens.

The Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union's intention was made clear three days before it is scheduled to attend a meeting called by the Darjeeling Tea Association where the bonus issue is expected to come up for discussion.

Prashant Pradhan, the assistant general secretary of the union, said: "The DTA has convened the first bonus meeting for the Darjeeling gardens on September 17. We are getting indications from the management that they are unable to pay bonus at the rate of 20 per cent this year. We will not accept anything less than 20 per cent."

He said: "If the management fails to distribute the bonus at the rate of 20 per cent, we will hold gate meetings in the tea gardens from September 18 and will not hesitate to call a general strike."

There are 80-odd tea gardens in the Darjeeling hills of which 60 are members of the Darjeeling Tea Association. The other tea association is the Indian Tea Association, which over the past few years has been following the bonus rate negotiated between the DTA and the garden labour unions.

Bonus percentage is calculated on the total annual earnings of a worker. The workers are paid a daily wage of Rs 132.50. Garden owners in the Dooars and Terai have expressed reservations in paying bonus at the rate of 20 per cent and talks with the unions there are deadlocked.

Pradhan said: "Since 2010, we have managed to negotiate the bonus at the rate of 20 percent and there is no reason why the rate should be less this year."

In 2010, gardens falling under Grade A, B, C were given bonus at the rate of 20 per cent while Grade D garden was given bonus at the rate of 17 per cent. However, since 2011 all gardens irrespective of the grades have been receiving wages at the rate of 20 per cent.

"This grading system no longer comes into play during bonus negotiations," Pradhan said.

The 20 per cent bonus is the highest fixed rate under the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, while the lowest rate is 8.33 per cent.

Sandeep Mukherjee, principal advisor to the DTA, said: "I would not want to comment on the issue before the meeting."

Jan Andolan polls

The Jan Andolan Party has decided to form 10 block committees in Kalimpong subdivision.

All office-bearers will be elected by the party members of the respective blocks. Elections to the posts of president, secretary and treasurer of every block will be held. This will be followed by elections to the executive bodies.

Today was the first day of filing nominations for the three posts. The last date for filing nominations is September 18 and the elections will be held from September 28 to October 1. The results will be announced on October 2.