The Hindu Business Line : Jute strike called off

THE indefinite jute strike in the 54 mills of West Bengal was called off on Thursday with the signing of a tripartite agreement between the representatives of the 15 central trade unions, mill owners and the State Labour Department.

According to sources present in the meeting, the 11-day old strike ended after the mill owners have agreed to pay a higher dearness allowance (134 points). All throughout, the mill owners were pressing to introduce the profitability clause but the trade union leaders said no such clause had been inducted in the agreement.

"The mill owners have agreed to pay increased dearness allowance from next month only," sources said.

Meanwhile, the trade union leaders have agreed to help in the implementation of the productivity clause, which was first introduced in the last tripartite agreement signed on January 2002.

"The productivity norms will be introduced in the mills within the next four months. On other issues like the abolition of contract labour, regularisation in the payment provident fund, ESI and bonus, a negotiating committee has been formed," sources added.

Approximately 2.5 lakh workers were directly affected due to this strike. On an average, jute goods production to the tune of 4,000 tonnes was lost everyday. Sources said that the crisis could be resolved only because of the initiative taken by the West Bengal Labour Department.