Majority of Dooars Terai tea gardens settle for 19% bonus

A majority of the gardens in the Terai and Dooars, under the Dooars Branch Indian Tea Association (DBITA) and Tea Association of India (TAI) settled for a 19 per cent bonus in the fifth round of talks. The tea workers’ organisations had demanded a 20 per cent bonus.

After a day-long meeting in Kolkata on Tuesday, the owners and labour unions signed this year’s bonus agreement late in the night. The bonus will be calculated based on daily wages, set at Rs 232 for the running year. As a result, a tea worker who has worked throughout the year will receive a bonus of over Rs 10,000. On Thursday, there will be a meeting of tea garden owners and labour organisations in Jalpaiguri concerning the remaining 56 tea gardens in Terai Dooars, involving two organisations, ITPA and TIPA.

The Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) will also hold a meeting with labour unions on Friday, covering the tea plantations in the Darjeeling hills.

Nakul Sonar, the chairman of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union (TCBSU), stated: “The workers are quite pleased. We are confident that Thursday’s bonus meeting for the remaining tea gardens will end on a positive note.”

Bonus agreements have been reached for 135 tea gardens, and the remaining 165 are expected to be concluded within the next two days. If bonus agreements are reached in over 300 full-fledged tea gardens, the tea industry will disburse around Rs 800 crore before Puja.

Approximately 4 lakh workers in the tea industry will benefit from this. Chinmay Dhar, Chairman of the North Bengal Tea Association of India (TAI), stated: “The bilateral settlement agreement on the Puja bonus has been completed successfully. We, along with the tea workers, are pleased. The Puja market is expected to be robust. Another bilateral settlement agreement meeting is scheduled for Thursday in Jalpaiguri for the remaining 56 gardens, and we hope for a successful agreement.

In Kolkata, bonuses were also determined for 42 gardens classified as vulnerable and scheduled to be addressed on Wednesday. Workers in these 42 gardens will receive bonuses ranging from 9 per cent to 16 per cent.”