Darjeeling, Feb. 13.TT: The labour wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today asked tea workers to put in their best for the industry, now that the garden managements has agreed to most of their demands.
Although the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union said it was displeased with certain measures that the owners were trying to implement, the overall message was that it was time to work for the betterment of the industry.
Milan Pradhan, media secretary of the trade union affiliated to the Morcha, said: “We want to make the labourers aware that the work culture has to be improved. The industry had in the past agreed to a Rs 23 hike in the daily wage and to pay bonus at the rate of 20 per cent (the highest percentage prescribed in the Plantation Labour Act 1951). The Act also maintains that workers have to work for eight hours and we ask the labourers to respect this provision.” He was addressing a meeting of trade wing leaders and garden workers at the Gymkhana Club here.
The Darjeeling tea industry, which has around 80-odd gardens, has been hit by absenteeism. “At times, absenteeism is more than 30 per cent. Productivity has to be improved as the industry which once produced around 13 million kg of tea annually, now makes only a little over 7.5 million kg,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, principal adviser to the Darjeeling Tea Association.
Many believe that one reason for the high absenteeism is the 100-days’ work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which covers the gardens too.
“The daily wage under the rural job scheme is Rs 130 while the gardens pay only Rs 90. Many workers prefer the 100-days job scheme as it fetches more money,” said an industry source.
The Darjeeling tea industry employs 55,000 permanent workers while another 16,000 are engaged on a temporary basis.
The Morcha union also objected to two specific management initiatives to improve work culture.
“A DTA circular says that workers need to put in 4 + 1+ 4 hours of work daily. This is not acceptable because the Labour Act specifies that a worker cannot be made to work for more than eight hours a day,” said Pradhan.
Mukherjee, however, said the management was following the Act. “The Act states that workers need to put in 48 hours during the six working days of a week. This means that they have to work for eight hours daily. We are offering a recess (duration could vary) after every four hours of work,” said Mukherjee. The unions want the one-hour recess to be counted as part of the work hour.
The Morcha was piqued by another DTA directive that said a labourer needs to work for at least 180 days a year to be entitled to fringe benefits like housing and firewood. “We want the DTA to take into consideration the earned leave, casual leave and sick leave while calculating 180 working days,” said Pradhan.
Mukherjee said holidays could not be counted as working days.
“Among the 365 days a year, the workers get 52 weekly holidays. Apart from this, they are entitled to one day of earned leave for every 20 days of work. Besides, national holidays are paid holidays. They also have 14 days of sick leave. All these holidays cannot be taken as working days or else little work will be done in the gardens,” said Mukherjee
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