Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Tea Bengal tea industry comes to a standstill Our Bureau
Kolkata , July 11 IN response to a strike call by the five lakh workers of the West Bengal tea industry, all activity in the tea industry in Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai has come to a halt. Industry sources said that no plucking had been reported from any of the 300-odd tea gardens of West Bengal. The annual production of these gardens taken together is 200 million kg, approximately 25 per cent of the national tea production. Small tea gardens and bought leaf factories too were affected by the strike called jointly by the Defence Committee of Plantation Workers Rights and Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers in West Bengal. The workers are demanding a wage hike. According to leading members of these two organisations, the last wage revision took place in 1999. It was a five- year agreement and it expired in 2004. The plantation owners, on their part, are demanding a productivity-linked wage agreement with the workers. Apparently, this is not acceptable to the workers unions. The Labour Department of West Bengal Government convened two tripartite meetings but it failed to resolve the crisis. Industry sources said that the government is keeping a close watch on the developments in this sector. Meanwhile, Mr C.K. Dhanuka, Chairman of Indian Tea Association, has criticised the strike. According to him, the industry is already suffering from falling prices and a shrinking export market. "In this scenario, the tea industry in West Bengal itself will be losing approximately Rs 15 crore per day due to this strike. We are hoping normality returns to the gardens as early as possible," Mr Dhanuka told Business Line.
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