A delegation from the United Tea Workers Front (UTWF) was told by Shri Moloy Ghatak, Minister-in-charge, Labour Department, Government of West Bengal that minimum wages in the tea industry would be implemented in another six months.A set of demands was submitted to him by the UTWF which are as follows:
a.
The
State Government must immediately convene a tripartite meeting with the
employers and unions in the tea industry to reach a mutual understanding on the
wage issue;
b.
Regardless
of the outcome of such a tripartite meeting, the State Government must
immediately declare a minimum wage for the tea industry;
c.
In
the declaration of such a minimum wage, the State Government must ensure parity
with the minimum wage it has already declared in other sectors, while also
following widely accepted legal norms such as the 15th ILC norms and
Supreme Court orders in the Workmen vs Reptakos Brett case and Unichoy vs State
of Kerala.
The Minister informed the delegation that the employers
were stubbornly sticking to a raise of only Rs.132 in 3 years, which the
Government found unacceptable, hence they were unwilling to call a tripartite
meeting as they knew workers would also not accept the same. On the other hand, the minister accepted the
demands made by UTWF and agreed to set up a committee for the minimum wage of
the tea-plantation workers under section 5(1) of Minimum Wages Act,1948 The
hon’ble minister assured the delegation that his department would issue
notifications for the said committee by the first week of November, 2014 and it
would be mandated to submit reports and recommendations to the government
within 3 months from its date of formation. He said that the government would
thereupon issue the draft notification for the minimum wage for the plantation
workers. As per Section 5 (2) of the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the minimum wage
would then become enforceable within three months of the draft notification.
He thus assured the delegation that the minimum wages for
the tea-plantations would be instituted within six to seven months. In response
to the demands made by the delegation on the issue of closed gardens and their
proper reopening, and the state government’s initiative and actions on the
issue, it was reported that the hon’ble chief minister of the state has already
written to the government of India about a possible takeover of closed tea
gardens and their reopening.
UTWF affirms once again it stands for a consistent united
struggle for the minimum living wages of the workers of the industry.
