The apex body of all tea producer associations, Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA), has expressed concern over the move initiated by the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union (DTDPLA) threatening to block despatches of made-tea from all the hill tea estates of the Darjeeling region with immediate effect saying that the recent move by the DTDPLA will affect the Darjeeling tea industry.
A statement issued by the CCPA said that the labour union had submitted a charter of demands for the hill tea estates of Darjeeling which was received by the producer associations on March 3.
This charter of demands was accompanied by a separate communication holding out the threat of blocking despatches of made-tea if the demands were not fulfilled.
The CCPA felt that this marked a significant departure from all pre-existing and established norms wherein the charter of demands were discussed in a composite manner with all the trade unions presenting all the tea-growing regions of West Bengal.
Demands
The CCPA pointed out that the charter of demands placed with the employers' associations sets the demands for workers' wages at completely unsustainable levels, given the commercial and economic realities of the tea industry.
However, the CCPA said that it would always be open to negotiations and discussions with the trade unions towards working out a mutually acceptable solution to the wage issue.
In any case the existing three-year wage agreement, which commenced in 2008, is scheduled to expire on March 31 and as per the pattern followed in the past, the CCPA would look to sitting with the workers' unions in a common format encompassing all the trade unions with interests in West Bengal. Moreover, such negotiations have generally been held in a tripartite forum as part of conciliation proceedings initiated by the Labour Department of the West Bengal Government.
