Tea garden owners are reluctant to pay higher bonus to workers like last last year as wages, among other expenses, have gone up significantly. At the same time, production has dropped.

For example, owners in Darjeeling point out that production has dropped by nearly 8 per cent this year vis-à-vis last year, while wages increased to Rs 90 a day for a worker from Rs 67.

The bonus meetings for tea-garden workers in West Bengal, covering Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai regions, are to begin in the first week of September, according to tea industry sources.

Nearly 90,000 workers employed in 87 gardens in Darjeeling district and nearly three lakh workers in more than 200 gardens in Dooars and Terai regions will benefit from the bonus agreement. For the purpose of bonus payments, gardens are classified into four categories, namely, A, B, C and D.

Last year, workers in A, B and C categories of Darjeeling gardens got bonus payments at 20 per cent each while those in category D got it at 17 per cent. The corresponding figures for Dooars and Terai gardens were 20 per cent each for A, B and C categories and 18 per cent for D category.

Minimum wage unresolved

Interestingly, the bonus meeting for gardens in Dooars and Terai regions will be held when the minimum wage issue remains unresolved.

The unions want a minimum wage of Rs 130 a day for a worker, at par with the rate being offered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

But garden owners have so far agreed to an increase of Rs 8 a day a worker in the first year and the same rate for two years after that.

Now, the minimum wage in Dooars and Terai gardens is Rs 67 a day a worker. In protest, tea garden workers in Dooars and Terai went on a three-day strike on August 10,11 and 12. .

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW