Strike threat flip-flop

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 30: The tea trade union of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today threatened to call a 12-hour strike in the hills on October 3 to protest the decision to hold the garden bonus meeting in Siliguri but withdrew the bandh announcement in an hour after the talks venue was shifted to Darjeeling. 

The Morcha-affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour union had opposed the joint labour commissioner’s decision to hold the bonus meeting for Darjeeling tea estates in his office in Siliguri.

The Jana Andolan Party, GNLF, CPRM and Congress unions had also opposed the decision and said they would not attend the Siliguri talks. They demanded that the meet  be held in the assistant labour commissioner’s office here. 

The Morcha union later threatened to call a 12-hour shutdown across the hills.

Prashant Pradhan, spokesman for the Morcha union, said at a press conference this afternoon: “Since 2010, we have managed a bonus of 20 per cent but now, there is a sinister design to weaken the Morcha in the hills by denying our workers bonus at 20 per cent. There is a sinister design so that our union can be attacked on the grounds that we could not deliver. The issue is about our prestige and rights of the workers and we will not accept anything less than 20 per cent.”

He added: “We will call a 12-hour strike if the meeting is not shifted to Darjeeling.”

Tea bonus is usually negotiated by the unions and management. But with no consensus even after four rounds of bipartite talks, the Darjeeling Tea Association had referred the issue to the assistant labour commissioner’s office.

The office called a tripartite meeting on September 27, where the management agreed to disburse bonus at 19 per cent, similar to the rates for the Dooars and Terai tea gardens. The hill unions, however, stuck to their demand.

According to the Plantation Labour Act, the minimum rate of bonus is 8.33 per cent and the maximum is 20.

Bharat Thakuri, the Darjeeling branch president of the GNLF’s Himalayan Plantation Workers’ Union, said: “Since 1984, all bonus meetings have been held in Darjeeling. Why should it be held in Siliguri? We will not attend it. But we do not support the strike call. The issue should have been discussed with all the trade unions. If the meeting is held in Darjeeling, we have no problem.”

Soon after the Morcha press meet around 1.30pm, The Telegraph spoke to Darjeeling district magistrate Anurag Srivastava. “No party has given us anything in writing about grievances over the venue. If all unions have a problem, there is no problem in shifting the talks to Darjeeling. In fact, it is not an issue,” he said.

Later, Srivastava said the meeting would be held in Darjeeling tomorrow, instead of October 3.

Told about the development, Pradhan said: “If the administration has changed the venue, there is no need to call a strike.” 

Asked about Morcha chief Bimal Gurung’s no-strike remark on Wednesday, Pradhan said: “We spoke to our president. The management doesn’t provide proper medical facilities, housing or other benefits. Now they are trying to reduce bonus rate. What are we to do? Should we sit quietly and allow workers to be exploited?” 

Gurung had said there would be no more strikes in the hills during festive season and the annual school exams.