The Hindu Business Line : Tripartite meet on Bengal tea workers' strike tomorrow

A TRIPARTITE meeting of representatives of the tea industry in North Bengal, State Government officials and trade unions has been convened on July 14 to break the impasse over the ongoing indefinite workers' strike in the tea industry in North Bengal.

A delegation of the tea industry, led by the Chairman of Indian Tea Association (ITA), Mr C.K. Dhanuka, today met the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and apprised him of the developments in the tea industry in North Bengal following the onset of the indefinite strike on July 11,.

Briefing newspersons at the State administrative headquarters at Writers Buildings here, Mr Bhattacharjee said "fruitful discussions" were held with the planters' representatives and "we are trying our best to resolve the issue at the earliest". He said two important issues were discussed at today's meeting. These pertained to revision of workers' wages and productivity linkages. He appealed to the planters and the trade unions to "sit together and resolve the issue".

Among others who met the Chief Minister were Mr K. David, Vice-Chairman of ITA and Managing Director of Goodricke Group Ltd, Mr G.P. Goenka, Chairman of Duncans Industries, and Mr B.M. Khaitan of the Magor Group.

The industry has said that it was willing to pay more wages to "industrious workers" who adhere to agreed-upon productivity norms.

It has alleged that about 30 per cent of the workers in the tea gardens do not pluck as much as they should. "We are willing to settle for a composite wage scheme which incorporates appropriate incentives and disincentives that are linked to productivity," sources in the tea industry said.

According to them, a 30-day strike in the tea industry in North Bengal - which has about 300 tea estates - would result in a loss of Rs 180 crore to the industry.

A prolonged strike at this stage would impact the survival of the industry in the long term, they said.

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