Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung’s assertion that Darjeeling tea gardens should be paid a bonus of at 20 per cent of the workers’ annual earnings seems to be influencing bonus talks ahead of Friday’s meeting, along with strong hints that the representatives of the managements will not agree.

Tea workers of the Dooars and Terai will receive 20 per cent as bonus, it was decided earlier.

According to statutory norms, minimum bonus rate is 8.33 per cent and the maximum is 20 per cent. In Darjeeling, after the first round of meetings early this month, the second round of bonus talks have been scheduled for Friday.

Last Sunday, at a seminar on Gorkhaland, Gurung had said: “Bonus must be paid at 20 per cent. During our time (in power) we always ensured it.”J.B. Tamang, working president of trade union of Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) that currently helms the GTA, said: “We too demand bonus to be disbursed at 20 per cent.”An industry veteran admitted: “Although the bonus rate has to be amicably settled between the trade unions and the management, Gurung’s assertion will influence tomorrow’s talks as no other union can now agree to a lower rate.”

Sources said that the management has readied a brief that exports have fallen by almost 30 per cent amid the Ukraine war and that the industry has not recovered after the Covid-19 pandemic.“You can’t compare Darjeeling Tea with the tea of the Dooars and Terai as we rely on export and they depend largely on domestic markets,” said a tea planter from Darjeeling.The Darjeeling Tea Association states that the production of Darjeeling tea in 2021 was only 6.75 million kilos. The industry once used to produce around 12 million kilos of made tea annually.

The other issue that managements will raise to bargain for lower bonus is the influx of Nepal tea.“When we do not have surplus funds, how can we distribute bonuses as demanded by the unions,” said a planter.Darjeeling Tea industry employs around 55,000 permanent workers and another 15,000 as temporary workers.

“In the past it has been seen that the management has managed to get an agreement done in less than 20 per cent or splitting the payment,” said an observer.Last year, with the management and unions failing to reach an agreement, the state government intervened — against norms — and “advised” the management and unions to agree to a 20 per cent bonus in two instalments of 15 per cent and 5 per cent.However, a union leader said they would not accept a split in bonus this year.“In fact during last year’s meeting it was stated that the practice of splitting the bonus, prevailing for the past three years in a row for Darjeeling tea industry, shall be stopped from next year,” said a hill union leader.