The first round of bipartite negotiations on bonuses for tea workers, held in Kolkata on Tuesday, ended without a resolution as the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA) offered only a 10 per cent bonus.
With Durga Puja approaching, the second round of talks is scheduled for 18 September. The CCPA has called this meeting to finalise the bonus for the 2023-24 accounting year for 175 tea gardens in the Terai and Dooars regions. The initial meeting, which spanned two days from 9 September, saw the CCPA present its first proposal of 10 per cent on the afternoon of the second day.
According to sources, the trade unions operating in the tea industry strongly opposed the offer, unanimously urging the CCPA to reconsider and aim for a settlement base rate closer to 19-20 per cent.
The CCPA has now called for a second round of negotiations on 18-19 September at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kolkata.
Ziaul Alam, a senior trade union leader and spokesperson for the joint forum of nearly all trade unions operating in the tea plantations, emphasised that the forum also discussed the need for flexibility in regulating the final day of plucking and production. Instead of a uniform cut-off date, they called for a garden-wise approach, factoring in agronomic and climatic conditions.
Furthermore, the unions pressed the CCPA to consider extending the retirement age for workers to 60 years, with continued contributions to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) between the pension eligibility age of 58 and retirement at 60. This policy, they proposed, should be communicated to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) by individual employers or employer associations, Alam added.
The trade unions, in a separate meeting, resolved not to rush into an agreement. Instead, they plan to take a strategic and united approach in all rounds of discussions to achieve the workers’ demands while maintaining peace and stability in the tea gardens, sources said.
It was also unanimously decided by all trade union representatives not to hold a morning “gate demonstration” before the next round of negotiations in the third week of September.