Government starves NREGA of funds for second year in a row

The last financial year came to an end with 24 states facing a total of Rs 12,483 crore worth of pending payments in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The pending payments amount to over a quarter of the total expenditure incurred on the programme in these states in 2015-16. This situation has arisen due to insufficient transfer of funds from the central government to these states. The shortage of funds in these states – which include all the nine states reeling under drought - has led to millions of workers facing tremendous economic hardships due to long delays in wage payments. As per official calculations – which are a gross underestimation – 58 per cent of the total wages were not paid on time in 2015-16. Even when the workers do get paid, they will not get the compensation which is to be paid in cases of delays in wages.   

The insufficiency of funds also makes a mockery of the central government’s decision to increase the guarantee of work to 150 days a household in 2015-16 in the drought-affected states. Again as per official records, only 7 per cent of the total rural households registered in NREGA in the drought affected states got work for more than 100 days.

Apart from starving the programme of funds, the government is also not fulfilling its promises and making false claims. The Finance Ministry released only Rs 2,000 crore of the additional Rs 5,000 crore it agreed to spend on NREGA if the expenditure on the programme exceeded the allocated budget of Rs 34,699 crore in 2015-16. While announcing an allocation of Rs 38,500 crore for MGNREGA for 2016-17, the Finance Minister claimed that “if it is spent, will be the highest ever expenditure on MGNREA”. But twice in the past the expenditure on the programme has exceeded the allocation for 2016-17; Rs 39,377 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 38,552 crore in 2013-14.   

2015-16 was the second year in a row in which the NDA government capped expenditure on NREGA. By the end of 2014-15 also, nine states were left with pending wages worth Rs 1,203 crore which were made only after these states received funds for 2015-16. The same will happen this year as well; a whopping 30 per cent of the allocation for 2016-17 will be spent just in clearing pending payments from last year. With no commitment of providing additional resources if the expenditure on the programme exceeds Rs 38,500 crore in 2016-7, the under-funding of NREGA is likely to continue this year as well. These facts expose the hollowness of the central government’s claim of delivering a “pro-poor” budget for 2016-17.  

The NREGA is also being undermined by the stagnation of its wages, which are revised by the central government every year. State-wide increase in NREGA wages for 2016-17 range between 0 to 11 per cent, compared with last year’s wages (it is interesting to note that the wage increase of all the eight North Eastern states is less than 4 per cent). In many states, the NREGA wage is even lower than the minimum agricultural wage, thus failing to provide adequate economic security to rural households. For example, the NREGA wage rate of Jharkhand is Rs 45 less than its minimum agricultural wage. The central government has provided no justification for the nominal and differential rates of increase across the country. As payment of wages are now linked with the quantum of work done by them, many workers are paid even less than the paltry NREGA wages; either due to their inability to do the stipulated amount of work or due to errors in the measurement of work done by them.   

The NDA government is killing a programme whose decade-long achievements were recently hailed as a cause for “national pride and celebration” by the Union Minister of Rural Development. By failing to ensure timely work and payment and other entitlements to rural workers (such as unemployment allowance in case of non-availability of work, compensation for delayed wages, worksite facilities and timely redress of grievances), the central government is legally violating the employment guarantee act. It is contributing to the suffering of rural workers and forcing them to either migrate in distress or engage in exploitative employment.

The Right to Food Campaign demands the following:

• Immediate payment of all pending NREGA payments.
• Compensation for delayed payments to be paid automatically along with wages.
• As stated in the Ministry of Rural Development’s Master Circular on NREGA, the 1^st tranche of funds (half of the total person days agreed to in the labour budget) should be released in the month of April.
• A separate allocation to be made for the additional 50 days of employment per household approved for drought-affected states.
• Increase in the NREGA wage rate to a minimum of Rs 250, indexing the wage rate to inflation and transparency in wage revisions
• Time-bound punishment to all persons violating any entitlement of the employment guarantee act through institutionalization of social audits and other grievance redress mechanisms.

We are,

Kavita Srivastava and Dipa Sinha,

Convenors, Steering Committee of Right to Food Campaign

National Networks: Annie Raja, (National Federation for Indian Women), Colin Gonsalves , (Human Right Law Network), Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Anjali Bhardwaj, (National Campaign for People's Right to Information), Madhuresh, Arundhati Dhuru and Ulka Mahajan (National Alliance of People’s Movements), Asha Mishra and Kashinath Chatterjee (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti), Ashok Bharti (National Conference of Dalit Organizations), Anuradha Talwar, Gautam Modi and Madhuri Krishnaswamy (New Trade Union Initiative), Binayak Sen (People’s Union for Civil Liberties), Subhash Bhatnagar (National Campaign Committee for Unorganized Sector workers), Paul Divakar and Asha Kowtal (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights), Mira Shiva, Radha Holla and Vandana Prasad (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan), Ranjeet Kumar Verma, Prahlad Ray, Praveen Kumar, Anand Malakar (Rashtriya Viklang Manch), Lali Dhakar, Sarawasti Singh, Shilpa Dey and Radha Raghwal (National Forum for Single Women’s Rights), G V Ramanjaneyulu, Kavita Kuruganthi (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture), Jashodhara (National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights), Ilango (National Fishworkers Federation), Zasia, Sonam, and Noor Jehan (Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan)

State Representatives: M Kodandram, Rama Melkape, Veena Shatrughana (Andhra Pradesh), Gangabhai and Samir Garg (Chhattisgarh), Abhay Kumar (Karnataka), Suresh Sawant, Mukta Srivastava (Maharashtra), Balram and James Herenj, Gurjeet Singh, Dheeraj (Jharkhand), Ashok Khandelwal, Shyam and Vijay Lakshmi (Rajasthan), Sachin Jain (Madhya Pradesh), Joseph Patelia, Sejal Dand, Neeta Hardikar and (Gujarat), Saito Basumaatary, Raju Narzari, Bondita Acharya and Sunil Kaul (Assam), Rupesh, (Bihar), V Suresh (Tamil Nadu), Bidyut Mohanty Raj Kishore Mishra, (Orissa), Ranjeet Kumar Varma, Bindu Singh, Sabina and Richa (Uttar Pradesh), Amrita Johri, Abdul Shakeel, Vimla, Koninika Ray and Rajender Kumar  (Delhi), Fr Jothi SJ and Mr. Saradindu (West Bengal)

Individual Representatives: Harsh Mander, Manas Ranjan, Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Ankita Aggarwal, Swati Narayan, Ritu Priya and Aditya Shrivastava

'No More Attacks On Civic Police'

Agreeing that all citizens of the country had the right to organise, the Additional District Magistrate General (ADM G) Malda said that there would not be any more police attacks on peaceful demonstrations of the civic police, when a delegation of six people from Asanghatit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch met him on behalf of the civic police volunteers on 24th September 2015.

The delegation brought up three main issues - one that the police action on the assembly of 5,000 civic volunteers on September 14 had been brutal and without provocation. The police and RAF had prevented the volunteers from meeting the Superintendent of Police (SP), an appointment that they had been given many days in advance. In addition, they had chased the men and even women civic police volunteers for at least two kilometres from the site and badly beaten them. They had taken wounded people from the hospital and arrested them, they had forced doctors not to treat them – in other words, without any provocation they had gone far beyond their call of duty and had behaved inhumanely.

The second issue that the delegation stressed on was the sacking of 4,800 civic police volunteers. The SP Malda had arbitrarily set up a second panel of 4,800 volunteers and had used them to replace the first group of 4,800 civic volunteers. This was in contravention to a High Court order that the West Bengal Civic Police Association had got. It also contravened at least four circulars of the State Government which insist that no such replacements are to take place.

On both these issues the ADM G said he would be able to provide information after inquiries in a week’s time.

The third issue was the civic police volunteers’ right to organise. The delegation said this was the fourth attack on a peaceful assembly by the police. Civic police volunteers were also being victimised at their places of work for being members of the West Bengal Civic Police Volunteers Association. At this, the delegation was assured that no such attacks would take place in the future.

The deputation was followed by a convention which was attended by about 500 members of the West Bengal Civic Police Volunteers Association, many of whom had been lathi-charged and wounded just 10 days ago.

The meeting was presided by Pratip Nag. From amongst the civic police spoke Bijoli Mondal , Dipankar Ghosh, Sanjay Poria, Anjar Ali  and Bakhtar Hussain. AICCTU member Sk. Ibrahim and Hind Motor Sangrami Sramik Karmachari Union member  Sukanto Ghosh also addressed the meeting. Amongst others who spoke were the APDR  member Jishnu Ray Choudhuri and AWBSRU district secretary Subhojit Basak. Lawyers Goutam Mukherjee and Prabir Jha (Malda Bar Association President) who have extended legal aid to the Association members were also present. Anuradha Talwar spoke on behalf of the Asanghatit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch and New Trade Union Initiative.

The Convention resolved to organise a delegation and a dharna in Kolkata in the next week as well as participate in the statewide rally and public campaign being organised by the Manch.

'Punish The Murderers of Feroze Dafadar'

Feroze Dafadar, member of Paschim Banga Telecom Tower Workers Union (constituent of our Asanghathita Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Mancha and an affiliate of NTUI) was brutally murdered by the ruling party goons on May 1, 2015. He is also a Panchayat Pradhan of Dhanonjoypur gram panchayat under Nakashipara police station. We condemn his murder. We demand immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the murderers.

 
Swapan Ganguly & Somnath Ghosh (Conveners)

UTWF Press Conference Invitation

The industrial backbone of West Bengal rests on three specific sectors – engineering, jute and tea. The first two sectors are in the doldrums since the last decades for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, the tea industry is among the most profitable and export earning sectors in India. However, it also showcases one of the worst labour conditions in the country. With over a few thousand starvation deaths in the last decade, in West Bengal, tea plantation workers are one of the lowest paid workers in the country. Here, owners reap huge profits at the expense of the basic needs - nutrition, health, education and housing - of the workers and their families.

Systematic ill–payment has trapped workers in the vicious circle of poverty, poor literacy and ill health. Their children also end up in the same ill-paid work as their parents and grandparents.

In West Bengal, wages have been kept at a precariously low level. The last set of agreements, which resulted in wages as low as Rs.80-95 over a three-year period expires on March 31, 2014.  Besides, the owners have been violating the basic provisions of the Plantation Labour Act with impunity. Provisions of crèche, medical facilities, ambulance, and house repair have all become things of the past. Moreover, many tea gardens of the region have also not deposited the provident fund dues of the workers amounting to over Rs. 100 crores while governments have provided full support to the garden owners by being silent onlookers. Even big corporate owners like the Tata, Duncans, Goodricke, Apeejay and others carry on equally deplorable and unfair labour practices.

It is in this context that various unions representing the largest ethnic groups of workers in the industry – Adivasis and Gurkhas - came forward to launch the United Tea Workers Front (UTWF), primarily to raise the issue of a living wages and related matters in the forthcoming wage negotiations in Darjeeling and North Bengal.

UTWF cordially welcomes you to the press conference on the above issues at the Kolkata Press Club on January 8, 2014.

For UTWF

Anuradha Talwar

United Tea Workers Front Set Up

The United Tea Workers Front (UTWF) was launched on December 27, 2013, at Siliguri, primarily to raise the issue of a living wages and related matters in the forthcoming wage negotiations in North Bengal. The tea industry, one of the most profitable export earning sectors in India, is also the site of the worst labour conditions in the country. With over 3,500 starvation deaths in the period 2003 to 2008 in West Bengal, tea plantation workers continue to be one of the lowest paid workers in the country, with owners reaping profits at the expense of the basic needs of nutrition, health, education and housing of the workers and their families. As a result of ill payment, plantation workers have been caught in a vicious circle of poverty, poor literacy and ill-health, with children of tea workers ending up in the same ill-paid work as their parents and grandparents before them. 

In West Bengal, wages have been kept at a precariously low level through collective wage bargaining agreements every three years. The last set of agreements, which resulted in wages as low as Rs.80-95 over a three-year period expires on March 31, 2014.  The tea gardens have been violating the basic provisions of the Plantation Labour Act with impunity. Provisions of crèche, medical facilities, ambulance, and house repair have all become things of the past. Moreover, many tea gardens of the region have also not deposited the provident fund dues of the workers amounting to over Rs 77 crores while the state government has provided full support to the garden owners by being a silent onlooker.

Calculations based on 15^th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) norms and the subsequent Supreme Court judgments (Unichoy vs State of Kerala in 1961 and Reptakos Brett Vs Workmen case in 1991) provide for a balanced diet with 2700 calories per day per person and other material needs, giving workers a living wage. Using these norms, the wage per worker in the tea gardens at current market prices should be Rs 322.

The UTWF plans to campaign and raise demands related to the payment of such a living wage before and during the next round of negotiations. The Front demands the payment of a wage that is over and above the wage calculated on the 15^th ILC norms and Supreme Court orders. It insists that all wage negotiations take place at Darjeeling for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and in Siliguri for the Terai and Doars regions, so that negotiations are transparent and democratic, allowing the unions to consult their membership in a regular and realistic manner. Employers and Government must also be transparent about the manner in which calculations and deductions are being made, providing unions with all relevant documents well in time.

UTWF also demands that negotiations must be completed by April 1, 2014, so that the problem of arrears does not arise at all. All payments such as extra leaf payment (ELP), Leave Travel allowance, additional compensation etc. must be price indexed and workers must be paid dearness allowance to compensate for inflation during the term of the next collective bargaining agreement for 2014 to 2017.

As far as bigha workers are concerned, the UTWF demands the extension of all wage and non-wage benefits to such seasonal, casual workers. Further, the UTWF demands that all vacant posts be filled immediately, and that management arrange for trainings so that workers can take on posts requiring special skills such as nursing, factory work etc. In view of the manner in which employers and management continue to flout the law, the UTWF demands that punishment under the law for erring employers be made more stringent and inspection be improved.

The UTWF brings together the Terai Dooars Progressive Plantation Workers Union, Darjeeling Terai Doars Plantation Labour Union, Progressive Tea Workers Union, West Bengal Tea Labour Union, Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity and the New Trade Union Initiative.

The UTWF will begin a series of protest and campaign programmes, including deputations to all officials concerned in North Bengal, GTA  and Kolkata and demonstrations in all block and district headquarters, GTA headquarters and the State capital at Kolkata. It also plans to highlight its problems before an internationally acclaimed jury in February 2014.

The UTWF also calls upon all other fraternal unions of tea plantation workers and in other sectors for a coordination to make the collective bargaining agreement of 2014 to 2017 reflect the true aspirations of tea plantation workers.

28 September: Convention On Working Women's Movement

Karmajibi Mahila Parishad would like to invite you/your organization to join a convention on 28th September 2013 at the University Institute Hall, College Square, Kolkata. The objective of the convention is to strengthen the movement of working women and raise their voices against the violence perpetrated against women workers. Karmajibi Mahila Parishad demands the safety and security of working women in their work place and in public places, especially when they commute to their work place. We will use the convention to share the findings of a study the women members of our unions have conducted on sexual harassment, working conditions and public safety of working women and to plan our future strategy on these issues.

Karmajibi Mahila Parishad has emerged from the firm resolve of New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) to make gender concerns an integral part of the trade union movement. As a central trade union centre, NTUI unionises women in different professions. NTUI works with working women and raises their collective voices through active participation of individuals engaged in various occupations. Since the last three decades, NTUI and many of its affiliates are active in unionising workers in the unorganized labour sector, who constitute 93% of the workforce in the country. NTUI believes that every worker has a right to get organized and to raise their demands be it economic, social, or political. We also support the fight of neglected and marginalised women workers in society who are demanding social security, protection, equity, recognition, respect, equal remuneration for equal work, protection from sexual harassment in the work place, and last but not the least the right to form unions. 

On 8^th March, 2013 to celebrate the International Women’s Day and also to accomplish the objective of the New Trade Union, NTUI organized a rally where 6,000 working women representing 13 different professions (such as agricultural workers, brick kiln workers, bidi workers, sex workers, construction workers, domestic workers, hosiery workers, NREGA workers, midday meal cooks etc.) joined together and raised their demands. Women from other walks of life joined them.  NTUI organized this procession with the understanding that working women and women in general must come together to focus public attention on their issues and to get demands fulfilled. The other objective was to constitute a State level working women's council, through active participation of women belonging to different occupations and walks of life, which we have named the Karmajibi Mahila Parishad.

To raise these issues on 28^th September 2013, the Karmajibi Mahila Parishad has decided to organise a convention to strengthen its movement against violence, sexual harassment and the recent spate of rapes and murders of women with the view to apprise the State Government of appropriate steps to address this issue.

We wish your active presence in the convention and to support our movement.

Roma Debnath   

Astabala Maity

Joint Conveners                                                                                                                                     

Karmajibi Mahila Parishad (Working Women’s Council)

March 8 Rally: A Mixed Bag of Promises And Rejections

Four thousand women from 11 independent trade unions and mass organisations marched from Sealdah to Esplande in Kolkata on the occasion of International Women’s Day, highlighting problems faced by women workers working in the informal sector. The women marched to demand strict measures on sexual harassment at workplace, minimum wages for all workers, including women who are employed under government programmes and working as Anganwadi workers and helpers, ASHA workers, mid-day meal cooks, link workers and those employed in tea gardens; regularization of casual and contractual Government workers; a stop to arbitrary sacking of women; social security benefits for all workers; and provision of worksite facilities, such as toilets, drinking water and crèches. The workers also highlighted the government’s refusal to register trade unions formed by women, specifically sex workers and domestic workers and the arbitrary manner in which hawkers were being treated in the absence of a State Hawkers’ Policy.

At the end of their march, while some of the women joined a public meeting organized by Maitree, a women’s network working on gender issues in West Bengal, others joined a protest by the Soni Sori Mukti Manch to demand release of Soni Sori and other such women prisoners.

A delegation also met with the Labour Minister of the State, Mr Purnendu Basu, in the evening for over an hour. On the issue of Minimum Wage, a demand for a floor level minimum wage of Rs. 400 (as per calculations of the 15^th ILC and Supreme Court Orders) was made. The Minister outrightly refused this demand and disagreed with our calculations. The issue of the minimum wage in agriculture being fixed at Rs. 167, as against Rs. 217 in other rural industries was also raised as being too low, which the Minister was not able to justify. He also stated that they had demanded that the Central Government declare Rs.171 as the minimum wage in NREGS works, but was not able to give the logic for this.  The delegation also demanded Minimum wages for all Government employees, including midday meal cooks, ASHA, Anganwadi, link workers in health, trained dai and other workers who work under Government programmes, which the Labour Minister asked us to raise with the Central Government, as these were all schemes under the Centre.

The issue of increasing casualisation and contractualisation of workers and the need for their regularization in the case of Government employees was also bought to his notice, to which the Minister agreed in principle, but showed his helplessness due to the huge debt that had been run up by the previous Government. Again we were advised to meet the Central Government and to organise an all India movement.

One of the most important discussion was on state government’s refusal to register trade unions formed by women, that of sex workers, domestic workers. The response in this regard was not positive, as the State asked us again to take up the demand with the Central Government as the Trade Union Act falls under their purview.

On a more positive note, the Minister told us that they had already taken positive steps on a state policy for hawkers, with a State Government sponsored Bill which they plan to pass soon in the State Legislature.

The demand for social security for all unorganised workers was received positively, with the Minister promising to immediately enlist all names put forward by the unions and mass organizations present under the State Assisted Scheme of Provident Fund for Unorganised Workers in West Bengal (SASPFUW) from his office itself if the requisite papers were given. Important issues of Sexual Harassment at workplaces, including government worksites such as NREGS and Construction sites and provision of worksite facilities, such as toilets, drinking water and crèches were met with seriousness, with promises that they would be looked into.

Participating organisations include New Trade Union Initiative and its affiliates such as Binodini Shramik Union, All Bengal Sales Representative Union and Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, along with other mass organsaitions and unions such as Hawkers Sangram Committee,  Shramajivi Mahila Samity, Bagan Suraksha Committee (Jalpaiguri), Gogo Gaonta (Birbhum),  Paschim Banga Swarojgari O Raduni Union, Paschim Banga Nirmaan Shilpa Shramik Union ( Organising Committee), Shramajivi Samnvay Committee, , West Bengal Government Employees Union (Nabaparjaya) and Durbar Disha Mahila Griha Shramik Samanvay Committee

(Asta Bala Maity)   (Rama Debnath)
Karmajivi Mahila Parishad (Organising Committee)

NO to Contract Work! Reinstate and regularise the 60 illegally terminated workers at the Haldia Dock Complex

The New Trade Union Initiative stands in solidarity with the Haldia Dock Complex Contractors' Shramik Union in its fight against the contract labour system and the illegal termination on 1 July 2011 of 60 workers of the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) employed at the Berth No. 10 Rubber Tyred Yard Gantry Cranes under the control of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).

We congratulate the 2,000 workers at the HDC led by the Haldia Dock Complex Contractors’ Shramik Union for the success of the 4 hour tool-down industrial action held on 3 August 2011 which brought the port operations to a stand-still as the loading and unloading of containers from eight ships were suspended. The 60 workers who were illegally terminated have been continuously employed in the container yard for loading and unloading of containers for the last 5 years, despite two changes of contractors. This clearly indicates the sham and bogus nature of the contract arrangement. The NTUI demands that the KoPT immediately reinstate the illegally terminated workers and regularise their employment.

The company contracted by the HDC to take over on 1 July 2011 the Operation & Maintenance of four Rubber Tyred Yard Gantry Cranes, at the Container Parking Yard of Haldia Dock Complex, Mumbai based Land-Marine Equipment Services Private Limited, has ignored both the Additional Labour Commissioner’s advice to reinstate workers within 7 days, and the tripartite agreement reached on 18 July 2011 wherein they agreed to take back all the workers. The NTUI condemns the Land-Marine Equipment Services management’s blatant violation of the law of the land and visible lack of willingness to engage in negotiations in good faith for a resolution of the issue. The management of KoPT, as the principal employer has also failed in ensuring the implementation of the Additional Labour Commissioner’s advice.

This is not the first time that the contract workers of the HDC have had to fight for fair working conditions and security of tenure of employment. Over the years, HDC has gradually changed its workforce composition and created a small core of permanent employees and a growing body of workforce under temporary contract who are employed under precarious working conditions. This weakens the bargaining power of the workers.

The total workforce strength at HDC is 6700, of which 3200 are permanent workers and 3500 are contract workers. There are 600 contract workers in regular and stable jobs in different divisions who receive wages between Rs 165 to 270 per day, with limited benefits of ESI and PF, far below the earnings of permanent workers engaged in the same work. It is deplorable that these workers are kept outside the category of regular employment and exploited. The NTUI denounces the complicity of the principal employer KoPT in allowing for the contractualisation of the workforce and discrimination of contract workers in the facilities under its control. We condemn KoPT management’s use of this discriminatory practice as a tool to divide workers and marginalise contract workers and the unequal treatment given to contract workers. The NTUI upholds the right of equal pay for equal work and right to security of tenure as regular workers.

The struggle of the Haldia Dock Complex Contractors’ Shramik Union is a part of our common struggle and NTUI is committed to ensure the success of this struggle.

The NTUI demands that the Kolkata Port Trust and the Land-Marine Equipment Services management:

· Reinstate all the dismissed workers immediately

· Absorb contract workers employed in jobs that are perennial in nature into the KoPT workforce

· Stop engaging in unfair labour practice and stop violating labour laws

The NTUI calls upon the Regional Labour Commissioner and the Chief Minister of West Bengal to defend the rights of the most vulnerable workers, the contract workers, and ensure that both KoPT and the Land Marine Equipment Services management follow the due process of law.

For more information, contact:

Anuradha Talwar, Convener-NTUI West Bengal State Committee and Secretary, NTUI

Pradip Roy, Co-convener-NTUI West Bengal State Committee 
[PBKMS is affiliated to the NTUI]

Tea Workers' Struggle A Just Cause

The New Trade Union Initiative supports the continuing united industrial action by 32 unions represented by the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers supported by the Defense Committee for Plantation Workers Rights and other unions for an increase in wages from the present Rs. 67.50 to Rs. 165 and a re-introduction of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA).

The tripartite negotiation, that began with the lapse of the previous industry wage agreement on 31 March 2011, entered a deadlock after 6 rounds of negotiation when the Consultative Committee of Plantation Association (CCPA), refused to accept the demand of theCoordination Committee for an increase in daily wages from Rs.67 to Rs.165. Thegovernment then made an informal proposal to the unions to accept an increase in wage to Rs130 at par with the MGNREGA wage. The CCPA offer for wage increase stands at Rs 24spread over three years at Rs. 8 each year to Rs. 91 in three years time. This means that the employers are offering a wage increase, even with the additional component of wage in kind,that would keep wages below the national floor wage and also below the state agricultural minimum wage.

The West Bengal state government along with the employers has come down heavily against this united action of the trade unions in the region. The employers, on one hand, have resorted to wage cuts in several gardens and have even declared illegal lockouts. On 4 August, the management of Bharnobari Tea Estate (a garden, employing 2,034 workers, that remained closed for a period of over two years between 29 December 2005 till 27 April 2008 and experienced 28 starvation deaths during this period) began to deduct wages of workers for participating in the hour long gate meetings that were being organised by all trade unions in every garden calling for a resolution of the present deadlock. When workers protested the illegal wage cut, the garden manager threatened to declare a lockout in the garden. Hundreds of workers led by women activists of the Paschim Banga Cha Bagan Shramik Karmachari Union gheraoed the manager and the 6 assistant managers and walked them 2 km to the Hashimara Police Station and filed a complaint of harassment. The management has sinceabandoned the garden. Similarly, in the Debpara Tea Estate, employing 1108 workers, the management announced a ‘suspension of work’ following protests by workers.

On the other hand, the newly formed state government has adopted a dual strategy to break the unity of the workers. In response to the strike call by the tea unions, the Chief Minister of West Bengal said “... The politics of strike cannot be allowed to go on... Numerous tea gardens have remained shut. There can be problems, but strikes cannot be used as a tool to deprive people of their rights.” She also added that if necessary her government would legislate to ban strikes. This is in blatant violation of the right to strike of workers. The political right to strike is organically linked to the fundamental right to association and collective bargaining of workers as enshrined in our constitution and is an inalienable part of trade union response in times of dire crisis. This is also in violation of the ILO Conventions 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and 98 on Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining. Even the United Nation's Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enshrines the right to strike.

The government has also begun parallel wage negotiations with the Progressive Tea Workers’ Union (PTWU) which is not even a member of the Coordination Committee that represents 32 unions in the industry and, along with the Defense Committee, is the bargaining agent for workers in the tripartite negotiation. The PTWU had initially demanded a daily wage of Rs 250 against the demand of Rs. 165 plus VDA made by the Coordination Committee. When the CCPA turned down this proposal, the PTWU also decided to support the strike called by the Coordination Committee on 7 August 2011 and supported by the Defense Committee as well as many other unions, including the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and the union affiliated to the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC.

But, following a bilateral meeting on 10 August 2011 with the State Industries Minister,Partha Chatterjee, Development Minister, Gautam Deb, and the Labour Minister, Purnendu Bose, the PTWU announced that they would go on strike on 17-18 August if the wage for plantation workers is not increased to a minimum of Rs 90. This is not just diluting the wage demand of the Coordination Committee but also breaking the existing united movement of tea workers. The union on 14 August has also withdrawn its proposed two-day tea strike from 17 August after a meeting with north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb. This parallel negotiation process is also undermining the ongoing tripartite negotiation and driving a wedge in the unity of workers in the industry.

NTUI welcomes the coordinated effort of the unions in the Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers and stand in solidarity with the continuing struggle for a wage agreement in the tea industry in Bengal. Further, NTUI strongly condemns the state government’s threat to ban strikes and its efforts to circumvent the tripartite negotiation. We call upon the Government of West Bengal to respect the:

1. Right of the bargaining agent for workers - the Coordination and the Defence Committees - in the tripartite negotiation on tea

2. Framework of tripartite negotiation in industry wage agreement

3. Right to Association and Collective Bargaining of workers

4. Principles of a just minimum wage for all workers

Ashim Roy, General Secretary, NTUI

[PBKMS is affiliated to the NTUI]