Crisis in Darjeeling tea: Bonus talks fail, production drops

Management were adamant they were unable to accept the 20 percent bonus demand,

EOI | DARJEELING | 17 Sept 2022: The second round talks for puja bonus to the tea gardens of the Darjeeling hill region ended inconclusively on Friday, with differences between the management and trade unions.. Earlier this month too, the bonus talks between the management and trade unions affiliated to various political parties had ended without any conclusion.

On Friday, the stalemate could not be broken even after over three hours of talks in the office of the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA), which represents tea gardens of the hills, between the management and trade unions. Hamro Hill Terai Dooars Chia Kaman Shramik Sangh (HTDCKSS), affiliated to the newly formed Hamro Party, appealed to trade unions of all the political parties to organize gate meetings in their respective tea gardens to create pressure on the management. 

HHTDCKSS president, DK Gurung said the management were adamant they were unable to accept the 20 percent bonus demand, citing financial crisis. 

"They (management) are making excuses like low production and fall in the export of Darjeeling tea. But, we will not accept this argument," he said. Sources in the Darjeeling tea industry said production was at an all-time low. Exports too had been affected by the Covid pandemic and earlier by the104-day statehood agitation in 2017.

Against the earlier production of over 10 million kilograms of tea leaf, presently in Darjeeling only about six million kgs are being produced, annually. The HP trade union said the management had offered to pay bonus of 8.33 percent plus an extra 5 percent which was unacceptable. "We will not accept anything less than20 percent. We will hold token gate meetings in all the hills tea gardens for half an hour from Monday to create pressure on the management. We appeal to the trade unions of various political parties to cooperate as the Puja  festival is just round the corner," said the HHTDCKSS president. 

After the agitation in 2017, , the management had been distributing bonus in two installments of 15 percent and five percent in the 87 tea gardens of the hills which employ over 55000 workers; with some gardens reportedly not receiving the full bonus. 

On the contrary a 20 percent bonus has been agreed upon for tea gardens in the Terai and Dooars regions. Interestingly, workers of the 10 tea gardens of the Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates Private Limited have not received wages for four fortnights and the staff and sub-staff salary for two month