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Tea estate workers gear up for indefinite strike in Kerala

Trivandrum - The workers in most tea estates across the state have geared up for an indefinite strike from Saturday in the event of failure of talks.

The plantation sector in Kerala is likely to come to a standstill if the Plantation Labour Committee (PLC) meeting on Saturday does not reach an agreement on the wage hike demanded by the workers.
The meeting was convened as part of a settlement brokered by the government between Kannan Devan Hills Plantations Ltd and the workers over the latter's demands that included 20 per cent bonus and a hike in the wages from Rs232 per day to Rs500 in the wake of a historic struggle spearheaded by the women workers. The chances for an amicable solution are dim with both sides remaining adamant on their stand on the eve of meeting on Friday. While the trade unions leaders said they will not go back on the demand, the planters have termed it unreasonable.
The workers in most tea estates across the state have geared up for an indefinite strike from Saturday in the event of failure of talks. The workers of nearly a dozen estates of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd in Pathanamthitta, Wayanad and Nelliyampathy in Palghat district observed a token strike on Friday.
The workers at three estates in Pathanamthitta said they will capture the company land and erect huts there if their demands are not accepted. The Association of Planters of Kerala said that the planters will be forced to shut down the tea estates if the workers insisted on a daily wage of Rs500.
APK chairman C Vinayaraghavana said that such a hike was not feasible at present as the average auction price of tea produced in Kerala in the current financial year was Rs95.59/kg as against the cost of production hovering above Rs120/kg.
The trade union workers have contested the APK argument. Elamaram Kareem, state general secretary of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said the managements were showing profits through technical manipulations. He said that they would expose this at the PLC meeting on Saturday.
All India Trade Union Centre (AITUC) State Secretary K P Rajendran shared Kareem's views. He said that all estates in Kerala were in a position to afford Rs500 as daily wage to the workers at present. The trade unions will go ahead with their agitations if the managements tried to reject the genuine demands of the workers.
The women workers of KHDPL, who had launched their struggle by keeping the trade unions away, said that they will once again hit the streets if the meeting on Saturday did not produce result. - news@khaleejtimes.com

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