Bengal inks wage agreement with jute industry, CITU stays away

The West Bengal government has signed a wage agreement with the jute industry to ward off an impending strike in the mills, officials said Thursday.

The agreement. which was signed late on Wednesday, came into effect from today, Labour Minister Malay Ghatak said.

As per the fresh agreement, new workers would get a maximum of Rs 385 per day, from the existing Rs 257.

In January this year, the state government had raised the wages for new joinees to Rs 327 a day as interim relief.

A worker is also entitled to get Rs 385 a day if his attendance is at least 24 days in a month, failing which the wage would be reduced to Rs 370 a day.

The new agreement came in the backdrop of an indefinite strike call from March 15 by trade unions demanding wage revision and implementation of Minimum Wages Act, among others.

As many as 21 trade unions, barring Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, had called the strike.

However, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), stayed away from the fresh wage agreement terming it as "nti worker".

"The state government has budged before the jute mills management and forced an anti-worker wage agreement which is not acceptable to us. We have not ratified the deal," CITU backed Bengal Chatkal Mazdoor Union secretary Anadi Sahu said.

Out of 21 trade unions, 6 left Front backed trade unions have not signed the agreement. But other major trade unions including the Congress-backed INTUC, BJP's BMS, and Trinamool congress trade union INTTUC have signed the agreement last night, he said.

"There is merely a Rs 2 hike per day for the 2.5 lakh existing workers which is just not acceptable to us," Sahu said.

He said the CITU will soon announce its next course of action.