WB: Tea Workers Upset Over Paltry Wage Hike, Warn of Strike Action

Tea garden workers have started protesting against the unilateral decision of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. The Joint Forum, a joint organisation of tea workers, is reluctant to accept the state's announced interim wage hike.

On Thursday, tea workers staged a joint rally in tea gardens in north Bengal. They are protesting against the announcement of an interim wage hike of only Rs 30 for tea workers as per the decision of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The protest was organised by tea workers demanding immediate introduction of minimum wage and allotment of land leases. They demonstrated at the gates of every tea garden in North Bengal. Thousands of tea workers took part in the protest meeting at the call of the Joint Forum of different unions. They alleged that Mamata Banerjee was unilaterally giving benefits to the tea garden owners.

Ziaul Alam, leader of the Tea Garden Workers' Union, addressed a protest rally at Denguajhar Tea Garden in Jalpaiguri Sadar Block on Thursday. He said, "According to the garden owners, the Chief Minister has increased the wages by only Rs 30. We are demanding a minimum wage for around 4.5 lakh tea workers from the Chief Minister. The Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments are paying the minimum wage to the tea workers of that state. And the WB government has not yet announced the minimum wage.” If the demand is not met, the tea garden workers will start an indefinite strike from July 4, Alam added.

The Joint Forum has been agitating for a long time to demand an increase in the minimum wage for tea workers and its speedy implementation. Recently The wage determination committee was formed due to the continuous movement of the workers. It is learned that the minimum wages have been fixed after 18 meetings. The state government announced that the minimum wage would be implemented from January 1, 2022. But it has not been launched yet.

Ziaul Alam

The workers alleged that the government is not paying them the minimum wage but has so far announced interim relief in six phases. Until then, the interim allowance was fixed through a joint meeting of tea garden owners and workers organisations, mediated by the labour department. As a result of the unilateral announcement by the Chief Minister, this year's interim allowance is the lowest. That is why the tea workers at Thursday's meeting expressed anger against Banerjee. They complained, "How did the Chief Minister announce only 30 rupees? It is an insult to us. We want the minimum wage."