An agreement has been reached regarding the basic salary of the sub-staff of the tea industry, but a decision regarding the wages of garden staff is yet to be taken.
The final deal was struck in Calcutta yesterday after 11 rounds of meeting between the trade unions and the management.
According to the agreement, the Grade III Other Monthly Rated Workers (sub-staff) will now receive a basic salary of Rs 1,150 per month. They will be entitled to an annual increment of Rs 17 over their basic salary until the amount reaches 1,320 following which they will get an annual increment of Rs 21 till their basic salary reaches Rs 1,530.
The starting basic salary of this group was previously fixed at Rs 930.
For Grade II sub-staff, the basic salary will start at Rs 1,190 with an annul increment of Rs 18 until the basic salary reaches Rs 1,370. Afterwards, the workers will receive an annual increment of Rs 22 till the basic salary touches Rs 1,590.
The previous starting salary of the Grade II employees was Rs 960.
The Grade I sub-staff will get a basic salary of Rs 1,220 over which they will get an annual increment of Rs 19 until the amount reaches Rs 1,410. The annual increment after that will be Rs 25 till the basic salary reaches Rs 1,660.
The wages of the sub-staff also includes dearness allowance, which will be 50 per cent of their basic salary. “They will also get a variable dearness allowance at the rate of 8 per cent with effect from April 1, 2006 and at 16 percent from April 1, 2007,” said Kumai.
The revised salary will come into effect from April 1, 2005. “The industry principals have agreed to clear the arrears by June end this year,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, secretary, Darjeeling Tea Association. This means that the sub-staff will also receive the revised salary for February 2006.
It was learnt that another meeting will be held in March to arrive at a negotiable wage revision for the staff. The meeting is expected to take place in Siliguri.
Source > The Telegraph
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