The tea industry in West Bengal is sitting for bipartite
bonus negotiations in Kolkata on 30th and 31st August
2014 at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce. In view of this, the United Tea Workers
Front demands that all tea gardens in the industry must pay 20% bonus for all
workers, regardless of the state of the garden. It condemns the trend that has
existed in the industry of granting special concessions for garden owners in
the name of sickness. Over 30 such gardens were given concessions last year and
were allowed to pay bonus ranging between 11% and 18% after agreement had been
reached on 20%. This is despite the fact these gardens continue to receive
concessions in various forms under the pretext of ‘sickness’.
The UTWF, which is the united front of the biggest unions
in the tea sector in West Bengal, would also like to question the double
standards that are prevailing in the industry. In the ongoing wage
negotiations, the employers are claiming that the wage that they pay amounts to
a cash wage of Rs.95 and a non-cash component of Rs.66, amounting to a total
wage of Rs.161. However, when it comes to bonus calculations, the employers are
only willing to calculate the bonus on the total of the cash component of
wages. The UTWF wants the computation of bonus to be not only on the basis of
the wage handed over in cash but on both the cash and the non-cash component of
wage.
We also demand the
bonus for all workers including contractual workers engaged in the tea gardens.
Also, the ceiling for bonus must be removed from Rs 10,000 as practiced
currently, to Rs 13,500 for all workers.
Anuradha Talwar(Principal Convenor)
Tulsi Oraon (General Secretary, Progressive Tea Workers
Union)
Kiran Kalindi (Convenor and Chairman,Progressive
Plantation Workers Union
Suraj
Subba (General Secretary, Darjeeling Terai Doars Plantation Labour Union)