End misuse of minimum wage fixing machinery: Upasi chief

The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (Upasi) has called on state governments to end the misuse of ‘minimum wage-fixing machinery’ for the plantation sector.

Delivering the presidential address at the association’s 115th annual conference, D P Maheshawari, president, Upasi, said, “The misuse of the minimum wage machinery to lever up the plantation wages in Kerala is well-known. The threat of a steep revision of the minimum wages is used by them to force employers to agree to what is euphemistically called a ‘negotiated settlement’.”

“A daily wage of Rs 115 had to be agreed to for tea and coffee plantations. Prior to this, an understanding was reached to enhance the wages of rubber plantation labourers to Rs 150, as it was justified on the basis of the present rubber prices. But what happens if the commodity price comes down?” he questioned.

Recently, the state governments attempted to extend the scope of minimum wage fixation to white-collar employees in the categories of clerical, supervisory and technical staff, although minimum wages had never been fixed in the past 60 years. This action presently has been stayed by a High Court order.

Praising the Tamil Nadu model, Maheshawari, said, “The state had all along upheld the conceptually and legally-correct principle that wages negotiated between representative unions and the employees’ are fair wage and that the statutory minimum wage has to be a level below such fair wage.”

“Unfortunately, Tamil Nadu is following in the footsteps of Kerala. The state, despite negotiating and settling fair wages in the major plantation districts, revised the ruling minimum wage of Rs 65.43 to Rs 101.52 through a notification in June,” he said.

“The real motive behind the exercise was to indirectly settle a wage dispute in one district between the unions and planters, by revising the minimum wage to meet the demand of the local MLA for a wage of over Rs 100 instead of following the logical and time-tested practice of subjecting the dispute to statutory conciliation by an industrial tribunal,” he added.