Because of the strike, works in tea gardens and manufacturing plants came to a grinding halt in Jhapa, Illam, Panchthar, Dhankuta, Terathum and other districts.[break] The strike comes a few days after tea farmers withdrew their strike after tea processors agreed to raise the prices of green leaves. The strike has affected thousands of small tea farmers as well, who rely heavily on tea producers to sell their leaves.
The strike of workers is led by trade unions close to three major political parties - UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. They had earlier submitted 28-point demand to the tea estate promoters and processing plant owners.
“We have brought 35 manufacturing plants and 65 major tea gardens of the eastern region to a grinding halt after the management continued to ignore our demands,” said Santa Rai, a labor leader. He told Republica that the workers´ unions had submitted their memorandum to the owners and management of tea estates on February 11.
The workers have asked their employers to pay the same wage to all workers in the tea estates and processing plants. Presently, tea estates in Jhapa are paying workers Rs 120 a day. Workers in Ilam, however, are receiving less than Rs 120 per day.
Representatives of labor unions said their employers currently pay them just 5 percent as provident fund, lower than the government set rule of 10 percent. They have also demanded for a hike in gratuity.
“Currently, workers in tea estates are paid just Rs 20,000 in gratuity when they retire at the age of 55 years. This is unjustifiable,” said Rai.
The workers have also demanded the employers to implement the agreement that big three trade unions signed with Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).
The agreement has fixed the minimum wage of the workers at Rs 226 a day and a minimum salary of Rs 6,100 a month.
Promoters of tea estates and manufacturing plants, however, said the agreement cannot be implemented, as it will raise their cost of production sharply.
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