Lakhs of tea garden and plantation workers in West Bengal have decided to go on a 48-hour strike on June 12 and 13. This was announced at a press conference by the joint forum of about 24 Central and State-level trade unions, held in the CITU office in Kolkata on Sunday.
According to a statement issued by Ramen Pandey, President, INTUC, West Bengal, the strike will cover gardens and industry in Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar and Islampur and Mekhliganj sub-division to press upon the State government and the management of different tea gardens to protect the jobs and livelihood of plantation workers. Incidentally, Darjeeling in North Bengal is already witnessing an agitation by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.
In the statement, the joint forum of unions also accused the West Bengal government of “bypassing the issues of poor plantation workers by not giving them proper minimum wages, coverage under social security schemes.”, adding that “even one after one tea garden is closed down, the management flees.”
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