The Hindu Business Line : 35,000 plantation workers remain jobless in Kerala

THE plight of over 35,000 workers who are without jobs since the closure 17 estates in Idukki district continues, as there are no signs of the estates reopening in the near future.

In some closed estates, workers are plucking green leaf for sustenance while many have left the area in search of some other work. The majority are finding it difficult to get a job as opportunities are virtually nil in this backward district, Mr P.A. Joseph, a senior trade union leader, told Business Line.

Neither the Government nor the managements are making any serious effort to resolve the crisis, he said. The only solace is that the government is providing them with free ration and medical facilities. But, that is not a permanent solution to the plight of these poor workers, Mr Joseph added.

Even as the managements claim that tea prices are ruling at rock bottom levels, the packet tea is sold at higher prices. The decline in tea prices at auctions is not passed on to the consumers, it is alleged.

Mr Joseph said that since providing alternative employment to the workers who lost their jobs is not possible, the only solution left is to get these estates reopened. But the indifferent attitude of the managements and the lethargy of the government have put the workers in a precarious situation.

Senior officials of the Association of Plantation of Kerala (APK) said that DA for tea and rubber had been frozen, following the crisis caused by poor price realisation.

However, following talks with major trade union federations, facilitated by the Labour Minister, the management had agreed to pay the arrears from October last year, coinciding with the period of stabilisation of rubber prices. It has also been agreed that the arrears payment will be made before October 31.

In the case of tea, although there has been some improvement in prices, "the position is far from satisfactory and the prices are still below the cost and it is too early to even think about a wage revision," APK sources claim.

In the case of rubber, APK members have agreed to release the DA with retrospective effect from October 2003.

"With globalisation, our lack of cost competitiveness in these crops stands fully exposed and while it is good that prices have shown improvement, we do not want to get stuck with wage levels that are not sustainable again," they warned.

APK has been insisting that further wage revision should be linked to productivity to contain costs, while at the same time giving an opportunity to the good workman to earn more.

The problem of traditional industries in Kerala, they point out, is that they carry a wage and cost structure which have no bearing on the economics of the business, be it coir, cashew or plantations.

APK is also opposed to automatic DA revision as they feel that many items that constitute the basket for DA is already provided to the plantation workmen.

APK has made it clear that it would support bilateral discussions with trade unions as discussions in the PLC are influenced by political considerations. The National Labour Commission has also supported bipartisan decisions.

Trouble brewing in an estate

KUMILY: Dismissal of six workers in one of the estates of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd in its Vandiperiyar group of plantations has led to agitation by workers, including blockade of the Kottayam-Thekkady Highway at Vandiperiyar in Idukki district for about four hours on Thursday.

Mr P A Joseph, trade union leader, told Business Line that the management had dismissed the workers in violation of the Plantation Labour Act. He said the agitation was launched after all conciliation efforts had failed. The workers are also demanding the withdrawal of proportionate wage cut enforced by the company, he said.

When contacted a senior HML management source said the workers had "brutally manhandled an estate manager" and the company had registered a complaint with the police. He said that Moongalar and Wallardie estates of the company are amongst the few in Peermade taluk which have been functioning normally.

Unfortunately, a bad precedent of theft of leaves from malfunctioning or closed estates has been set in the Peermade taluk and many individuals have lined their pockets that way, he said. "It is at the behest of such vested interests that trouble was started at our estate. They want to steer estates working normally to lawlessness, so that their personal interests are served," the official alleged. - G.K.N.

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