Workers’ strike brings work in tea estates and processing units to halt

Work in tea estates and processing units across the country stalled from today due to the strike of the workers as the talks between tea workers and entrepreneurs failed Saturday.

Representatives of All Nepal Tea Estate Workers' Association, Nepal Tea Estate Workers' Association and Nepal Independent Tea Workers' Union had presented a 21-point demand to employers and had announced stage-wise protest programs on August 3, but they failed to find consensus in any of the points.

Among the demands of the workers are a monthly salary of Rs 5,000 to workers and distribution of salary for the days when the estates remained closed due to Janaandolan II.

The strike has affected 32 tea estates and 37 processing centers.

Talking to Nepalnews, Suresh Mittal, Managing Director of Mittal Tea Private Limited, one of the major tea producers of the country said that the production stalled due to the unnecessary demands of the labour unions.

Three labour unions forwarded a 21-point demand, but the main disagreement was on the wage of labour.

“They are demanding 100 rupees per eight hours of work, but we cannot pay so, as after providing such high wages, we can’t compete in the Indian market, one of the major tea markets of Nepal. Indian tea workers are getting Rs. 81 and they will get 85 rupees after a year. We agreed to give Rs. 86 rupees to them at present, but the unions did not agree,” he added.

He however said that most of the demands of the laborers including appointment letter and facilities could be resolved through talks.

He said that the entrepreneurs are ready to resolve the issue through talks if the labour unions put forward realistic demands.

According to entrepreneurs, 500,000 kilograms of tea leaves will go waste each day in Jhapa district alone due to the strike called by the workers. nepalnews.com pb Aug 13 06