Tripartite meet on minimum wages of tea garden workers to be held on Aug 6

MP |  30 July 2018 | Siliguri: The crucial tripartite meeting on minimum wages for tea garden workers has been postponed to August 6. Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak is expected to announce the minimum wage amount calculated by the state government from Uttarkanya on that day. 

Earlier, the meeting had been slated for July 31. "Due to the ongoing Assembly session, the meeting had been deferred to August 6," stated Zai Ur Alam, Convenor of the Joint Forum of Tea Unions (a conglomeration of 26 operating tea unions).

The Joint Forum, demanding the implementation of minimum wages in the tea gardens, had called for a closure of all of them in North Bengal on July 23, 24 and 25 along with a general strike in the tea belt on July 24. 

Though the unions operational in the Hills had decided not to enforce the bandh, they had called for stopping tea dispatch from the Hill's gardens. 

However, following the tripartite talks in Uttarkanya, the Mini Secretariat in Jalpaiguri district on July 17, the Forum had decided to keep the agitation on hold with assurances that the state Law minister would announce the minimum wage amount calculated by the state government in the next round of talks on July 31.

The minimum wage is being calculated taking into consideration the various components including the cost of food, clothing, housing and the 1:3 composition (three dependents per worker). At present, the daily wage cash component is Rs 159.