Tea Workers Seek Minimum 20% Bonus

The tea industry in West Bengal is sitting for bipartite bonus negotiations in Kolkata on 30^th and 31^st 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)

Civic Police Face Harassment, Badu Collective Raided

A series of raids, arrests, dismissals and lathi-charges have greeted the leaders and supporters of the West Bengal Civic Police Association after their successful demonstration on July 10, 2014.

After the large gathering of about 35,000 civic police on July 10, 2014, the State Government, sensing the unrest amongst these young men and women came out with a notification within four days (Government Order No. 1940-PL/PB/3P-31/12 dated 14.7.2014) . The notification sanctioned 120 days of work at Rs.141.82 for the “Civic Police Volunteer Force” during July 2014 to December 2014. This is a victory for the movement initiated by the West Bengal Civic Police Association.

On the other hand, the State Government has also initiated repressive measures against the Association. On July 16, 2014, the President of the Association Sanjay Poria was missing for about six hours. No one knew of his whereabouts and his mobile phone was also unreachable. He was last known to have gone to the Keshpur police station where the Officer in Charge (OC) of the Police Station (PS) had called him. Finally, he was traced to the office of the Superintendent of Police, Paschim Midnapore, where he was interrogated repeatedly till about 12.30 midnight by the S.P. and a number of other senior officers.

On the same day, at Khatra police station in Bankura district, the OC threatened not to hire the leadership of the Association. This led to an altercation with all the young men who were on the rolls there, with the police ultimately resorting to a lathi-charge. Police cases were instituted against two of the leaders who had to take bail the next day.

Similar reports of OCs saying that they had been ordered to not hire the leadership of the Association were received from police stations in Bankura, Paschim Midnapore, Purba Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, Burdwan, Coochbehar, Purulia and other districts.  Verbally the young men were told that they were being punished for organising their fellow workers and for leading the movement and the demonstration on the July 10. They were told that video recordings had been made of their participation in the demonstration on that day and that the police’s Intelligence Branch had collected the names of the leaders. For example , in Sankrail PS of Paschim Midnapore, four youth were asked to not come back to work. In Daspur in the same district on the other hand all the 200 youth protested that they would not work if their leader was not hired, leading to the OC backing down.

The issue was taken to its extreme in Malda district where, on July 19, we heard that the Superintendent of the district was reported to have declared that all 4,800 civic police in the district would be replaced with fresh recruits. This was despite the clear declaration in the Government Order that the old 1,30,000 civic police would be taken for work and no new names would be entertained. This led to massive protests in many police stations. In Harishchandrapur Police Station protesting civic police were lathi-charged and then 12 of them were detained till midnight. They were finally let off without any criminal charges, after intervention by the local Member of Parliament.

In a parallel bizarre developments, on July 17, 2014, the Badu Collective, a commune where 12 families live together, a premises used by many activists for overnight stay and to hold informal meetings, was invaded first by the Intelligence Branch and then by a massive police force . The police force led by the Subdivisional Police Officer came in with teargas shells and prison vans to break up a meeting of the civic police that they had heard was to take place on the premises. The peaceful community, which has children and old people, was taken by surprise as they had no information of such a meeting. The police kept them surrounded the whole day, and in a clearly illegal invasion, trespassed on their land and houses without any rhyme or reason and without any warrants.

Equally bizarre was a newspaper report by a leading Bengali daily that claimed that the Chief Minister had allocated Rs.65 lakhs for an intelligence operation to find out who was “behind” the Civic Police Association. As the West Bengal Civic Police Association and its supporters have all been functioning openly – asking for and receiving police permission to hold a mass meeting, holding press conferences, meeting the Labour Minister, corresponding with the Government, bringing out and circulating widely reports of activities etc., the attempt at mystifying “who is behind this association” can only be ill-intentioned.

It should be noted that freedom of association is a constitutional right of all Indian citizens and the formation of an association, as well as peaceful protest, are well accepted methods for workers to focus public and employer attention on their working conditions. Why then is the Government behaving schizophrenically? It gives permission for the Association to hold a public meeting in Kolkata, its Labour Minister meets their delegation; at the same time, it sacks the leadership of the association and launches an intelligence operation to find out who is “behind” the Association. We would urge the Government to refrain from such undemocratic action and to instead concentrate its scarce resources and energy on improving the working conditions of the civic police who receive a paltry salary of just Rs.141.82 today, without any security or legal safeguards in the risky work they do.  

Civic Police Prepare For Historic Battle

July 10, 2014, saw a historic gathering at Rani Rashmoni Road at Kolkata. Over 35,000-40,000 youth gathered there – all members of a new rural working class, all facing unemployment after the Government had promised jobs, all very angry, but determined to fight for their rights.

These 40,000 youth were all part of a newly formed West Bengal Civic Police Association. In 2013 130,000 men and women between the age of 18 and 28 years were recruited by the West Bengal government as “civic police volunteers”. There were many unwritten promises made to them - they would be given a uniform and a torch and a lathi, their wages would be gradually increased to be at par with other Government employees, they would be made permanent police personnel etc. Some of these young people claim to have paid bribes amounting to Rs. 70-80,000 to local political dadas to get this job.

The job ultimately involved 120 days of work during a period of six months and a daily payment of Rs.141.82 (much below the Government’s lowest rate of minimum wage which is Rs.206). Even this was paid irregularly with delays of two to three months being common. In addition, no appointment letters were given, payments were made on muster rolls, No uniform was given in most districts. Worst of all, the young men and women were given risky duties without any training or any legal security. As one young man told us, he was asked by the Officer in Charge of his police station to go and break down illegal hooch dens. The hooch den owners who know the youth well as they are all from the same villages swore to take revenge when his employment was over. There was no protection available for him.

Six of these young people have died while on duty. For example, Saphikul Sheikh of Behrampur Police Station in Murshidabad died when he was thrown down from a bridge by irate lorry drivers when he was trying to control traffic. There has been no compensation paid to any of these people. In fact, if these young people are injured there is no surety of medical treatment for them.

With the help of the Asanghatit Kshetra Shramik Sangrami Manch (Struggle Platform for Unorganised Sector Workers), the civic police began self organising in November 2013, with meetings and conventions in many police stations and districts. During the Lok Sabha elections, they were on duty. However by June 30 all of them were thrown out of employment. The young men and women therefore decided to organise a large protest meeting in Kolkata.

 

Despite the heavy rain that day, the gathering of 35-40,000 people showed the spontaneous anger of these youth. A delegation also met the Labour Minister, who immediately passed an order to enrol them under a social security scheme for unorganised sector workers. He also promised to take a month to confer on their other demands (continuation of duty, giving appointment letter, payment of minimum wages, provident fund, gratuity, ESIS coverage, proper training and protection at work) with the Chief Minister. In addition he asked for information of those who had been injured or had died during their duty, so that he could arrange for their compensation and medical treatment. 

After returning to their own areas, the youth have been threatened by their seniors in the police force and by local party leaders. Some of them have been given “official dismissal letters”. Lists are being made of “those who went to the Kolkata gathering”. Newspaper reports quoting senior Government Ministers have also come out, blaming the Association of being backed by the BJP, the CPI(M) and the Naxals.

On the other hand, on July 14, 2014, the CM is said to have said that she was willing to extend the employment of civic police, saying she was not in favour of taking away jobs. However, she put in a rider- the youth must behave themselves and must not be “unruly”.

 
The civic police plan a convention in Kolkata on July 25, 2014, with representatives from all police stations and districts to focus attention on the repression they are facing and to declare their future programme. This is to be preceded by visits by a team of Association members to areas where reports of repression are coming from. The team will meet Officers in Charge of police stations and District Superintendents of Police in these areas.

Second Day's Visit To Tea Gardens: Procession Of Death Continues

The procession of death remains unabated in the closed tea gardens. We had reported yesterday of 3 persons we had met in Bandapani Tea Gardens (TG) who were near death. Unfortunately, the first news we have got this morning is of the death of Mukesh Goala, one of these three persons. It has induced in all of us a feeling of great helplessness and anger at the injustice of life in the tea estates, where on the one hand owners make huge profits, paying a measly wage of Rs.95 to workers, abandoning gardens with impunity and on the other hand young men like Mukesh Goala die untimely deaths due to hunger and poverty.

The death remains unregistered in any official record and unmarked, part of many such unknown tragedies that take place here every day.

Our second day was spent in Dheklapara Tea Estate. This estate has been closed since 2006. It has been tied up in litigation with the Tea Board as one of the parties. The Tea Board was asked to take over the garden by the High court under Section 16 E of the Tea Act. The Tea Board has after 4-5 years of legal wrangling said it was unable to find a new buyer or run the garden in any other manner. Right now, a group of garden labour owing allegiance to the Trinamool Congress-run the garden selling leaves to a broker. This is done separately in two parts of the garden with the Nirpania division reporting payment of Rs.45 each day to each plucker and a sharing of the profits, while the main division pays Rs.35 per day. There are reports that the labour have recently asked the BDO for permission to allow them to do plantation of new bushes.

Besides plucking, the adults and children from the garden also work in collecting stone and sand from the river, stone breaking, work in a brick field, and at an Army construction site nearby. Earnings range from Rs.100 to Rs.140 per day.

Dheklapara has been the focus of the present Government’s relief efforts. Since December 2012, when it became the focus of attention due to many deaths, as well as threats of suicide by surviving workers, two successful community kitchens catering to about 150 destitute people are being run. Electricity has been given to all people. Water supply has improved. Antodaya rations are given regularly. The FAWLOI and old age pensions are being given with some delays. NREGS works are there though with delays in payment.

Despite the above, we got reports of at least 7 deaths from the three lines to which we had access. (In one line we were stopped from collecting information by rowdies who informed us that they were from the Trinamool Congress)

We also found three persons who were on the verge of death due to hunger. Budu Oraon, (62) has been suffering from low pressure .He fell down about a month ago. The family has kept him in one room. As he is unable to move and is bedridden, he soils himself. Medical aid is needed on an urgent basis in order to save his life.

Rabi Tanti from Beech line died 2 months ago after his FAWLOI (Family Allowance for Workers in Locked Out Industry) was stopped as he had crossed the age of 58. His wife Champa Tanti (59) is now in dire straits. With FAWLOI stopped and a 19 years old son who has no source of income, the family is hungry and Champa is likely to die. Mohan Khariya (57) s/o late Habil wife Surajmani (50). Both he and his wife get food from the community kitchen run under the Sahay scheme.

The above shows the limitation of Government relief efforts even when they are comparatively well run. Dheklapara and other closed gardens need re-opening more than anything. The workers of tea gardens need fair wages- not the paltry Rs.95 that they get presently.

The workers in Dheklapara should be helped to form a cooperative and to run their garden themselves, as many workers want this. Attempts to find an owner have failed and the seeds of self-running are already there- they need to be nurtured with good Government help and proper accountability systems. The tendency of rowdies with political patronage to control people managed processes must be controlled.
Related Read ('The Hindu'): Three Bandapani tea garden wokers bed-ridden: NGOs, trade unions