GJMM-backed tea workers’ union extends suppo

GJMM-backed tea workers’ union extends support to strikers

11 August 2011

manas ranjan banerjee
GULMA (Kurseong), 11 AUG: In a show of empathy for the cause of the tea workers in the Terai-Dooars, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha-backed tea workers’ unions have extended support to tomorrow's 12-hour general strike in north Bengal. The strike was convened by over 32 trade unions affiliated to several political parties, including the Left parties.
The extension of support by the GJMM-affiliated trade unions to the agitation that has been continuing since 10 August in support of the wage hike demand involving the tea workers in Terai-Dooars, has assumed significance in view of the fact that the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad-backed tea workers’ union has backed out following a meeting with the state government in Kolkata on 9 August.  The Darjeeling district Left Front leaders, though seemingly pleased with the GJMM decision, have chosen not to comment on the development. The GJMM media secretary and the MLA from Kalimpong, Dr Harka Bahadur Chettri, said: “We have decided to support the three-day strike in the interests of the tea workers in the Terai and Dooars. Ours is the party committed to the cause of the working class and we would never deviate from it.”
Referring to the recent hike in the wages in the Darjeeling Hills, the GJMM leader said that the wages in the plains should be hiked accordingly. “There should be parity as far as the wages are concerned. The present situation when a tea worker in the Hills gets Rs 90 per day and his counterpart in the plains gets Rs 67 per day cannot be allowed to continue. We are for equality as regards the workers in terms of remuneration,” he said. A permanent tea worker associated with the CITU-dominated Gulma Tea Estate, Mr Ratna Bahadur Chetrri, said: “Except the ABAVP- backed trade union, all the trade unions, including the GJMM-backed one, are involved in the agitation.  We would struggle shoulder to shoulder. The interests of the workers are paramount.”
Welcoming the support extended by the GJMM to the continuing agitation, the convener of the coordination committee involving 22 trade unions operating in the plantations, Mr Chitta Dey said: “The GJMM decision would consolidate the tea workers’ unity in the region. The discrepancy involving the wages in the Hills and the plains should be immediately done away with. Otherwise, it would perpetuate schism and destroy workers’ solidarity”