Tea workers stage stir demanding wage hike

  • | Tuesday | 4th September, 2018

Under the banner of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), tea garden workers in Dibrugarh , Tinsukia, Digboi and Nazira joined in the strike. "We seek a dignified wage for all tea garden workers, not less than Rs 350. There are about 30 lakh tea garden workers across the state.Gowala also demanded a change in the working hours. "Tea workers in Kerala get a minimum daily wage of Rs 310. "The colonial system still prevails in the tea gardens.

DIBRUGARH: Two years since BJP promised a revision of daily wages for workers in the tea gardens of Assam, which account for more than half the country's tea production, workers are still fighting for the Rs 351 a day the minimum wages advisory board for tea workers had proposed.On Monday, workers in several tea gardens across upper Assam staged protests demanding that their daily wage be raised from Rs 167 to Rs 350. Under the banner of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), tea garden workers in Dibrugarh , Tinsukia, Digboi and Nazira joined in the strike."We seek a dignified wage for all tea garden workers, not less than Rs 350. It was one of BJP's election promises," Rupesh Gowala, general secretary of ACMS, said. Tea tribes, that had traditionally been Congress supporters, had overwhelmingly voted in favour of BJP in the 2016 assembly election.Until recently, tea garden workers in the Brahmaputra Valley had been receiving Rs 137 while those in the Barak Valley had been getting Rs 115 a day. On July 8, the government raised daily wages by Rs 30 across the state. The government had called the hike an "interim move" since the report by the one-man committee headed by additional chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna was, and still is, yet to give its recommendations."Tea workers in Kerala get a minimum daily wage of Rs 310. It is Rs 263 in Karnataka and Rs 241 in Tamil Nadu. The government should ensure fair and acceptable wages for workers here," Gowala said. There are about 30 lakh tea garden workers across the state.Gowala also demanded a change in the working hours. "The colonial system still prevails in the tea gardens. Labourers are made to work long hours and paid paltry wages. We want working hours to be reduced from 7am-4.30pm (nine-and-half hours) to 9am-4.30pm (seven-and-half hours)," he added.The ACMS leader further said that the cost of housing, medical, electricity, drinking water, pension, PF, gratuity and bonus should not be included as part of the daily wages, as is the practice now.

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