Darjeeling Tea Gardens Advised to Pay 19% Bonus
Labor bureau intervenes after unions and planters fail to agree
In an unusual action in recent years, the state labor bureau asked the tea plantations in the Darjeeling hills to pay bonuses at a rate of 19% in an advisory sent out on Monday night.
After trade union officials and tea plantation representatives could not agree on the bonus, Kallol Banerjee, the additional labor commissioner of the north Bengal zone, who is stationed in Siliguri, issued the advise.
There are 87 tea gardens in the Darjeeling hills; eight of them are closed.
Even after protracted discussions, the tripartite meeting convened in Banerjee's office on Monday to fix the bonus rate produced no results. The planters' representatives claimed they couldn't afford to pay more than 12 percent, but the unions remained firm in their demand for 19%.
Ultimately, the labor official released the 19% advisory.
It is not legally binding, though, as it has been reported that gardens facing financial difficulties can resolve the bonus through local labor unions. Many hill tea gardens have started holding seminars as of today. The principal adviser of the Darjeeling Tea Association, Sandeep Mukherjee, stated, "We think that matters will be settled amicably."
According to sources, some forty-five hill gardens are currently unable to pay a 19% bonus.
Bonus face-offs such to those in the Dooars gardens are feared by many. Many gardens in the Dooars closed because laborers demanded a greater bonus rate than the tea companies could provide. A hill planter stated, "Hill workers and union leaders should understand the financial compulsions of the industry."
Standoffs over bonuses between trade unions and tea businesses have occurred in the last few weeks on a scale not seen in the previous ten to fifteen years.
It makes the industry's dilemma abundantly evident. According to M.P. Bansal, the chairman of the Terai Indian Planters' Association, "there are some issues that require the intervention of the state and federal governments, or else the situation would only worsen in the coming days."
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