TMC tea union hits road on minimum pay

TT, 21 Jun 2019 Siliguri: Leaders and supporters of a Trinamul-backed tea union hit the streets here on Thursday demanding immediate implementation of minimum wages.

In recent times, this is the first time supporters of a union affiliated to the INTTUC, the trade union front of Trinamul, have come out in open with the demand that has been raised long time back by unions of other parties.

On Thursday, around 1,000-odd people ­ most of them are workers in tea estates located in the Terai and Dooars ­ took the rally that started from near Airview More. Led by leaders of Terai Dooars Plantation Workers' Union (TDPWU), they walked up to the Joint Labour Commissioner's office in Collegepara, where they held a street corner and raised a number of demands, including The procession by the Trinamul union in Siliguri on Thursday. (Passang Yolmo) speedy implementation of minimum wage.

A delegation of leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to state labour minister Moloy Ghatak. "The minimum wage for workers serving in the tea gardens of north Bengal should be declared as early as possible. Also, the existing interim wage needs to be reviewed and enhanced," said Sandip Nandi, general secretary, TDPWU.

In Bengal, tea workers receive a daily wage of Rs 176 now. Back in 2015, the state had formed an advisory committee comprising stakeholders of the industry and some officials to work on the minimum wage rate and recommend it to the government.

Since then, four years have passed and number of meetings of the committee has been held but no decision has been reached yet.

The decision of the Trinamul-backed union to come into the streets, particularly after the party suffered a setback across the brew belt in north Bengal at the Lok Sabha polls, is significant, opined observers. According to them, the delay in fixation of minimum wage was one of the key issues that the BJP had highlighted during poll campaign. The majority of the tea population -- in the Darjeeling hills, Terai and the Dooars -- voted the BJP.