Tea Plantation Labour in India On the plantations the wages are fixed according to the wage se.ttlement arrived, a very few (among the visited in one plantations still the wage is fixed according to the Minimum Wage Act of Rs. 26 per day). All unskilled workers in the field and factory are daily wagers. The)_z get, inclusive of Dearness Allowance, Rs. 39.76 per day. Due fo the job differential the factory workers get an extra Rs. 1.75 per day. j T i o h b e di o f t f h e e r r ent c i a a t l e s gor a i r e e s : which also g get additi iona a l l amount per day due to Pruners Spraying worker — Iis. 1.60 — Rs. 1.50 Power Creche cooks Ayahs Sweepers Field watchers — g: iig fnapsack — Rs. 1.30 — Rs. 1.35 — Rs, 1.20 4 The pluckers get incentives for the extra leaves they pluck every maa);;e'l“rl;e'base or rfflnimum f?xe_d amount of leaves a worker has to The i rie's according to the yield of green leaf per hectare for a month, e mncentive structure also varies according to the yield of green leaf per hectgre for a month. The following are the details of the quantities and the incentive structure, Yield groen loof per heelare base K e B8 1st Slab Ind Slab ­3rd Slab i{fi?g(};gi{ 801-1600 lE: 12 kg, 13-16 16-30 14 kg, 15-20 21-40 1601 kg . &i'b ove 15 kg, 16-30 16 kg, 17-36 31-50 36-60 Incentive rate 1st Slab 2nd Slab 3rd Slab = Rs. 0.27 per kg. ­Rs. 0.35 per k. ­Ras. 0.40 per k. 31 & above 41 & above 16 & above 61 & above SOURCE: ' Memorandum of Settlement under Section 18(1 Act, 1947 arrived at in Coimbatore, on 29 June(légc‘;. e inl Di Industrial Disput 301;11‘21; .;nc:nti;re st‘rlucture is followedin most of the plantations but in tho incegt‘rea. e the.lr own slabs and fix the incentives. Inone plantation 1ve 1s uniformly Re 0.30 for each kg. above the fixed hase 94 Tea Plantation Labour in Tamil Nadu amount of 14 kgs. In the case of a temporary worker the daily wage varies from plantation to plantation; the range for a woman worker is from Rs. 20 per day, to Rs. 30 per day and for a man worker from Rs. 25 to Rs. 30 per day. Apart from the daily wage, the pluckers get the incentive for extra collection. In the case of jobs assigned to the male unskilled workers sometime back the task assignment method was introduced in the plantation, according to which the target is fixed. For pruning, the number of plants, or area is fixed; for spraying(the pesticide) the number of litres or area is fixed; for lopping the number of trees is fixed. One is expected to finish the target during the eight working hours, otherwise work has to continue till the target is reached, sometimes worker extends till 6 or 6.30 PM. The target also varies from plantation to plantation. In some plantations the number of plants fixed for pruning by a ‘gang’ is 400, while in other plantationtshe‘gang’ has to prune one hectare per day. Regarding spraying, a single worker has to spray 200 litres or one acre per day.| Field supervisors and workers who belong to category C get their salaries on a monthly basis, a pay of Rs. 1025 and Rs. 1064 respectively, plus Dearness Allowance. The other two categories A and B are daily wagers and get Rs. 39.76 per day inclusive of Dearness Allowance. A service weightage is added to the wage and is Re 0.10 per day to a worker who has completed ten years of service and an additional Rs. 0.10 after the completion of twenty-five years of service, The workers get 20 per cent bonus every year and this practice is followed in most plantations. In some they still get only 8 per cent or 10 _per cent, In one plantation the bonus issue is now in the court, the workers demand a raise from 8 per cent to 20 per cent but the management is not willing to go beyond 9.5 per cent. Role of Trade Unions The trade union movement really started in the Nilgiris district with the formation of Bstates Staff Association of South India in 1929. It was registered as a society and was never technically a union. But about twenty years later the first trade union was registered in the 95