The CPM tea union has become the first mover in urging the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) to start early negotiations and settle the bonus rate of tea garden workers.
The bonus issue, which is usually raised ahead of Durga Puja, often leads to disruption of tea gardens.
The letter by the Darjeeling District Chiya Kaman Mazdoor Union (DDCKMU) to the DTA, sent much ahead of Puja, underlines the urgency of the issue.
“Last year’s bonus issue created serious problems, which adversely affected the tea industry as a whole…..I would like to request that discussions regarding the bonus for the current year..i.e., 2024-25, be initiated without delay,” Saman Pahak, the president of the DDCKMU and also a former Rajya Sabha member, wrote to the DTA.
In the past, general strikes have been called on the issue of bonus settlement. Tea gardens have also closed down just before the festival because of the annual bonus issue.
During the “agitation time”, most hill parties have maintained that they would start pressuring the tea management from the start of the coming year.
Last year on May Day, Anit Thapa, the president of Bhartiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and also the chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) had demanded that bonus negotiations should start immediately and that unions should not wait till the last moment.
Most political parties have in the past talked about starting bonus negotiations when the tea plucking season just starts.
There are four plucking seasons for the Darjeeling industry, first, second, monsoon and autumn. Even though the first flush accounts for only 20 per cent of the production, the price the tea fetches is premium.
The first and second flush starts from February and carries till June.
“The first and second flush commands the highest prices. The idea to hold negotiations during plucking season was to put pressure on management for a better bargain,” said an observer.
The second flush carries on till September. Autumn and winter flush do not produce relatively good products.
However, the unions and the political parties have failed to exert pressure on the management. The management usually starts the negotiations only about a month before Durga Puja, which basically puts pressure on the unions.
J.B. Tamang, the working president of the BGPM tea union, had earlier said that they had tried to call a meeting earlier.
“We did write to the DTA for early bonus talks but they did not respond and did not call a meeting,” said Tamang.
Planters have stressed that early negotiations are not possible.
Multiple sources from the tea industry management had earlier said that even though accounts close on March 31, work on the balance sheet continues till June.
“The financial position of a company is fully known by June,” one of them had added.
Another planter added that even though the bonus of the previous year is paid, funds are used from the current year.
On Monday, a source of the tea industry said that the DTA cannot alone fix the bonus meeting date.
“The issue to hold the bonus meeting is an industry decision, wherein the whole of north Bengal tea industry takes a considered view. So, the request (from the CPM) would be placed to the appropriate forum,” said a source.
Planters have to pay a minimum of 8.3 per cent of the workers’ annual earnings as annual bonus. “The upper limit is 20 per cent and meetings between the union and management are held to fix this rate,” said an observer.