Parties frown on `all' in hill bonus deal

VIVEK CHHETRI , TT, 09 Oct 2018, Darjeeling: Russian empress Maria Feodorovna had supposedly changed a comma to save lives.

In an allegation where parallel can be drawn from the Russian history, antiGorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders in the hills have alleged that the Darjeeling Tea Association added a word in the bonus agreement to snub their politics.

Maria, wife of czar Alexander III who ruled Russia from 1881 to 1894, is credited by many for changing Alexander's proclamation that read: "Pardon impossible, to send to Siberia." When the czarina came across the document, she purportedly changed the comma to read: "Pardon, impossible to send to Siberia." The change in comma, it is said, saved the lives of many.

There are many critics who refuse to buy this story but nevertheless, this is an accepted example worldwide how punctuation and wrong usage of words can make or break situations.

In Darjeeling and two centuries later, opposition trade union leaders are demanding a change in the manner the bonus agreement for tea garden workers has been drafted.

The agreement reads: "The Darjeeling Tea Association and Indian Tea Association representing the gardens of Darjeeling Tea industry as per the list given hereunder, and all operating Trade Unions of Darjeeling, after protracted BREW BRAWL discussions, have conclusively settled issue of Bonus for the accounting year 2017-2018 as detailed below." The agreement was signed on October 4, 2018, in Calcutta. While most operating trade unions from the hills had taken part in the bonus discussions, only the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union signed the agreeme- nt where the planters agreed to disburse bonus at 15 per cent of workers' annual earnings.

Hence, opposition parties have frowned on the word "all" in the agreement.

The rival parties are training their guns at the Morcha for agreeing to a low rate and have made it an issue in the tea gardens of hills.

Against this background, the wording in the bonus settlement has become an issue.

Amar Lama, a bureau member of the Jana Andolan Party, said: "We have very strong objections to the wording. We are writing to the DTA to rectify this sentence immediately. All trade unions had participated in the deliberations but only the Morcha agreed to the settlement. All trade unions did not settle on this rate." Lama alleged that this was a deliberate act by the management.

"The DTA is deliberately trying to make us party to the agreement. We were only party to discussions. They have to rectify this document," Lama told The Telegraph.

Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal advisor to the DTA, however, said it was impossi- ble to change the agreement. "How can the agreement be changed when the document has already been signed and circulated. It is a fact that while all unions participated in the discussion, only some leaders signed the document. However, this fact is clear if one takes note of the signatories on the document," said Mukherjee.

"They are simply trying to make an issue out of a non-issue," the DTA official added.

When The Telegraph was discussing the issue with industry representatives, an official was quick to informally add: "The media is also writing that the bonus was `fixed', it was actually `settled' between two parties." Words do matter.