Bonus talks for Darjeeling tea industry between mngnt & workers' unions fail
Darjeeling: The first round of bonus talks for the Darjeeling tea industry between the management and the workers' unions in Darjeeling failed on Friday.
Representatives of nine trade unions sat with the management at the Darjeeling Tea Association on Friday to decided on the annual bonus percentage.
"We clearly told the trade unions that it would not be possible to pay above 8.33% bonus. The talks were on when news came in that bonus was settled at 20% for the Dooars tea industry. This led to an argument and the meeting broke," stated Sandeep Mukherjee, principal advisor, Darjeeling Tea Association, representing the management.
No date for next round of meeting has been decided yet. Last year, bonus was paid at 20% for the Darjeeling tea industry.
In another development representatives of Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates Pvt. Ltd (DOTEPL), physically skipped the hearing called by the Darjeeling District Magistrate but attended on virtual mode. In the meeting, they assured the district administration of clearing due wages and salary of one fortnight by September 7, out of the pending four fortnights of wages and salary.
Workers of 10 tea estates in the Darjeeling Hills under DOTEPL, formerly the Bansal Group, are on an agitation path for non-payment of wages and salary for the past two months.
They have been holding rallies in front of the District Collectorate in Darjeeling, demanding that the lease of the gardens be cancelled.
GTA chief Anit Thapa had also written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee regarding the issue.
On August 27, the Darjeeling DM had shot a letter to the management of the company to appear for a hearing on September 2.
The DM's letter addressed to Acting Chairman & Director, DOTEPL along with the CEO of the company asking them to "personally appear on 02.09.22 at 12:30 pm at District Magistrate Office, Darjeeling to explain why lease determination process may not be initiated for the Tea Gardens under your management (DOTEPL)…" wages and salary due for the four fortnights is to the tune of more than Rs 3.5 crore.
"Representatives of DOTEPL have attended the hearing on virtual mode. They have assured to clear pending wages for one fortnight within next Wednesday.
"We have asked them to appear physically and attend
a tripartite meeting next week to discuss their plans. They have agreed to do so. We
have asked them to give the above assurances in writing by today. We will communicate their written assurances to the workers' unions," stated S Ponnambalam, District Magistrate, Darjeeling.
The gardens' workers have threatened to beef up the ongoing agitation and even warned of roadblocks if demands are not met.
