Thousands of plantation workers in Kerala will start an indefinite strike on Monday demanding higher daily wages. The decision to launch the strike was taken jointly by the various trade unions working in the plantation sector after a day-long meeting of the Plantation labour Committee (PlC) in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday failed to produce a consensus on the issue of wage hike.
The unions and workers want the daily wage to be hiked to `500 a day from the present `232. The representatives of the plantation managements refused to agree to this demand but they reportedly failed to propose a hike that was affordable to them. The PlC is a tripartite system comprising the representatives of the Government, plantation managements and trade unions.
A consensus could not be reached at the meeting as the trade unions and managements remained firm in their respective positions despite the reconciliation proposals put forward by the Government. Another round of discussions would be held on Tuesday afternoon, said labour Minister Shibu Baby John after the 9-hour-long PlC meeting.
“The management representatives spoke of their position and the unions theirs and the Government put forward its reasonable proposals. Understanding was reached at on all matters where consensus was possible. Unfortunately, no understanding could be reached at on the issue of wage hike,” said Shibu Baby John.
“The managements are not ready to agree to the demand for `500 wage structure. They say they want more time to think. Workers of the entire plantation sector, including those of tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom, etc will go on strike,” said AITUC leader H Rajeevan after the PlC meeting. He said all the trade unions had jointly decided to launch the strike.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Ponbila Orumai (Women’s Unity), the force which had led the epic agitation of thousands of woman tea estate workers of the Tata-controlled Kanan Devan Hill Plantations ltd (KDHP) of Munnar, said they would go back to their comrades and decide on the course of action to be followed in the context of the managements’ refusal to hike the wages.
“Only five of us are here in Thiruvananthapuram. We cannot take a decision on our own. We have to discuss the matter with our fellow-women in Munnar. let the trade unions do what they do but we are not with them. However, there is no question of going back on the demand for `500-a-day wage,” saidPonbila Orumai leader Gomathi Augustine.
The nine-day strike led by the Ponbila Orumai in Munnar, in which the trade unions were not allowed to play any role, had succeeded in making the KDHP management agree to their demand for hiking the bonus. At the end of the strike, the company agreed to pay 20 percent bonus instead of the ten percent it had declared earlier.
The Ponbila Orumai had not been allowed to participate in the PlC meeting though five of its representatives had reached Thiruvananthapuram with the hope of participating in it. “We had met Minister Shibu Baby John and were expecting a positive decision. This has not happened. We will take a decision on what to do next at the earliest,” said Gomathi.
“We are not being stubborn over the wage issue,” said C Vinayaraghavan, chairman, Association of Plantations of Kerala. Even before the meet, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Minister Shibu Baby John had, though indirectly, taken a position that there could be no wage hike which could lead to the collapse of the plantation sector.
At the same time, the PlC meet succeeded in taking relatively positive decisions on issues of workers’ living quarters, health care, insurance, etc.