Jute strike talks move to Delhi

Trade union members have sought Centre's intervention to end the indefinite strike in jute mills in West Bengal.

The labour unions, along with jute mill owners will meet Oscar Fernandes, Union labour and employment minister tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the tripartite meeting between trade union members, government and the jute industry representatives on December 15 failed to arrive at a meaningful conclusion, as internal rivalry among trade unions took precedence.

According to Sanjay Kajaria of Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA), there was no consensus among trade union members on a proposed charter of demand.

However, the basic demand of the trade unions centres was settlement of dearness allowances and wages. Some trade unions expressed concerns over some members of labour unions not taking part in the strike. Kali Ghosh of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) said the strike was to protest against "illegal activities" of the mill owners, and violation of the tripartite wage settlement agreement of 2002. "Our main demands settlement of DA, provident funds and gratuity payment," said Ghosh.

The collective loss of the jute industry is likely to be around Rs 1,000 crore, according to rough estimates by IJMA. Nearly 2.5 lakh jute mill workers and four million jute growers have been hit by the strike. "The industry is confronted with an unwarranted and unpleasant situation where 18 trade unions, barring the Citu affiliate Bengal Chatkal Mazdoor Union (BCMU) , controlling the bigger part of the jute mill workers, have gone on strike on issues pertaining to enhanced dearness allowance and other worker benefits," Kajaia stated.