Amid tripartite talk decision, tea unions seek min wages : The state government has decided to resume the traditional method of hiking tea wages

 The state government has decided to resume the traditional method of hiking tea wages

MANAS R BANNERJEE, SNS, SILIGURI, 27 MARCH 2023 : As the West Bengal Labour Department has called for a tripartite meeting on 12 April with a view to hiking tea workers' daily wages through the traditional tripartite agreement, the joint Forum of trade unions associated with tea plantations today adopted several resolution s on various issues, including the longstanding demand for implementation of the Minimum Wages Act.

Records show that the last such tripartite meeting was held in 2015, while in the presence of five Cabinet ministers of the state government it was later decided that a Minimum Wages Advisory Committee (MWAC) would settle the wages of tea workers and monthly-rated employees associated with plantations. The traditional tripartite meeting had been discontinued after that.

However, as a series of meetings of the MWAC failed to come up with anything concrete on the minimum wages, the state government has decided to resume the traditional method of hiking the tea wages.

Minister in Charge of the Labour Department Moloy Ghatak has been claiming that the series of meetings of the MWAC were inconclusive, trade unions that are still fighting for it have argued that it was the state government's duty to take a final call on the minimum wages on the basis of the last meeting of the MWAC held at Madarihat in the Dooars last year in the presence of the then Labour Minister Becharam Manna.

Notably, tea workers get a daily wage of Rs 232 presently, after the interim wage hikes in between since 2017. The ex-officio chairman of the MWAC has not called a meeting in the last one year and the daily rated wages has not been hiked during that period.

"The West Bengal government should not delay implementation of the Minimum Wages Act. At present, the state government does not have the capacity to go for a tripartite-negotiated settlement of tea workers' wages.

The exercise following a series of meetings of the MWAC from our end is over. Submission of management of tea plantations is also over. Now the state government should go for the final call. After issuing a notification, and if there are any differences, the state may go for the interim settlement," spokesperson of the Joint Forum Ziaul Alam said today.

"The negotiated tripartite wage settlement was based on the 1:1.5 dependency ration, which has in creased through the interim process and the wage of a daily rated worker is Rs 232 a day. When the management has finally agreed to accept the dependency ratio at 1: 3 as per the Act, the daily rated wages should be instantly doubled, that is Its 464 a day as of today." Mr Alam claimed.

Mr Alam further said: "In the last MWAC meeting held at Madarihat last year, all 11 workers' representatives jointly signed the government's calculation that was Rs 661 a day, as per the price chart published by the Simla Labour Bureau.

If we look at the three states in South India, the daily rated wage in tea plantations is between Rs428 to 438 a day at present, and time has come there to review and revise the daily rate.

Interestingly, United Plantors' Association of South India (UPASI) has control there, and the CCPA (Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations) keep over West Bengal and Assam, where the daily wages is Rs 232 a day. So, the West Bengal government should not delay the Minimum Wages settlement now."