The Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA), the apex body of all tea producers associations in the country, has expressed concern over the move initiated by the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union to block despatches of made tea from the tea estates in the hills of Darjeeling.

In a statement, CCPA points out that the union submitted a charter of demands accompanied by a threat a few days back that in the event of non-fulfilment of the demands, the despatches of tea from the tea estates located in the hills of Darjeeling would be stopped.

“It is a significant departure from all earlier practices where the charter of demands was first discussed in a composite manner with participation of all trade unions controlling tea workers in West Bengal”, the statement observes. “What is matter of concern is that the present union's bid to bypass the established norms to achieve objectives through threats.”

It might be noted that the tenure of the existing three-year wage agreement which came into force in April 2008 would expire in the current month. Negotiations between the employers and the unions over revision of wages have become due.

It is indicated that the tea garden owners, following the time-honoured tradition, will be open to negotiations with the unions for an acceptable settlement of the wage issue.

They, therefore, look forward to sitting with a workers' unions to discuss the relevant issues in a common format and such negotiations in the past were generally held in a tripartite forum as part of conciliation proceedings initiated by the labour department of the state government.