Tea garden staff panel wants old pact back : Traditional tripartite agreement on their salary expired in 2017

Traditional tripartite agreement on their salary expired in 2017

SNS, SILIGURI, 10 MARCH 2022 : The Staff and Sub Staff Joint Committee observed a cease-work in almost all tea plantations in this region for four days beginning 7 March, demanding renewal of a traditional tripartite agreement for fixation of their monthly rated remuneration. The agreement expired on 31 March 2017.

Staff and sub-staff in tea plantations did not work from 7.30 am to 11.33 am from 7 March till today, it is learnt.

Informing authorities concerned of their four-day agitation, Joint Committee leaders said they have suffered huge financial losses ever since dialogue on implementation of the Minimum Wages Act in tea plantations began.

According to the convener of the Committee, Ashish Bose, based on an average calculation of traditional increment through tripartite agreement for 4.5 lath workers and nearly 10,000 staff and sub staff, tea garden owners have saved nearly Rs 1800 crore since 2017.

Another leader of the Joint Committee, Sadhan Dasgupta, said that until implementation of the Minimum Wages Act, the state government should revise the remuneration through the traditional tripartite agreement.

"We have suffered huge losses and were deprived of financial benefits after the state government asked tea garden owners to hike salary on an interim basis," Mr Dasgupta said, adding, "We got interim increment of only 18 percent on our gross salary as on 31 March 2017 with effect from January 2018,and the second interim was only 15 percent on gross salary as on 31 December 2020 with effect from January 2021."

Notably, the Joint Committee had started preparing for the agitation after tea workers got an interim hike in their wages from Rs 132.50 to Rs. 150 and then Rs. 167 a day. Though the state labour department had issued two notifications on hiking salary for the staff and sub staff 'proportionately' with the hike in wages of workers, due to complications in its calculation, the staff and sub staff were deprived of t he interim increment, sources said.

Notably, tea workers now get Rs 202 a day, following the interim increment.

Sources also said that the then state labour minister Malay Ghatak had in January 2021, assured the Joint Committee members that he would take initiatives to provide interim increment for them which would be "above their dreams." However, nothing has happened yet.

Joint Committee members said they will hold a meeting within two to three days to formulate their next course of action. It may be mentioned here that members of the Minimum Wage Advisory Council held a meeting in Siliguri, which was inconclusive, a few days ago.

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