The million dollar question, however, is: Has peace returned to the plantations? The answer to that question has to be in the negative given the bitterness the agreement has left in its trail.

The Government, the plantation managements and the trade unions which participated in the negotiations would have us believe that the agreement – the best bargain since the 1980s which will ensure a 30 per cent wage hike – will endure. Other demands including bonus, would come up for negotiations on November 4, and the TUs hand out the hope that all will be well on the plantations thereafter.

The workers, however, do not share the optimism voiced by the government and the TU leaders. True, the workers have ended the agitation. But they are a an unhappy lot laboring under a sense of having been badly let down by both the Government and the TUs. The trade unions, they aver, had assured them of a minimum wage of Rs 500 throughout the negotiations, but ended up agreeing to a paltry hike of Rs 69.

The workers are not hopeful of a happy end to the protracted negotiations ahead on the crucial bonus issue either. It may be noted that when the nine-day-old agitation by the women workers ended, they had managed to secure a bonus of 20 per cent – 8.33 per cent bonus and 11.67 per cent ex-gratia. This was tom-tomed as a big gain at that point of time. But in reality it is anything but a victory. In fact, it was a letdown what with the management having agreed to pay 10 per cent bonus. Now in the next round of talks, the workers will have to bargain hard for bonus from a lower point: 8.33 per cent, the ex-gratia being only a discretion of the managements. And, if the mood of the managements is any guide, they are unlikely to get a decent bargain.

The most disturbing feature of the negotiations has been the apathy bordering on cruelty on the part of the Government towards the workers plight. No word of condemnation will be too high to describe the shocking insensitivity of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government. The least the government could have done was to play the umpire strictly. It did nothing of that sort. Instead, it committed the unpardonable crime by coming out with a statement that a Rs 500 wage hike would mean collapse of the plantation industry! – a claim even the plantation managements never made in the run-up to the negotiations. That thoughtless statement not only betrayed the pro-management leaning of the Government but emboldened the former to harden its rigid stand in the negotiations.

The Government is also guilty of criminal inaction. It has failed to do its part by refusing to implement its promise on a housing scheme for the labourers. Though an allocation of Rs 15 crore had been made last year, the scheme is yet to take off. Also, an amount of Rs 20 crore had been set aside in the state budget for this purpose. No action on that front either, so far.

The inevitable fallout of the government’s apathy would be an extension of the agitation to other sectors including coir after the local bodies elections. This has been made clear by the trade unions in general and by the CITU in particular.

A pertinent question that arises is: was the government simply not in a position to do anything to help the workers? That claim was so much poppycock and nonsense, assert the Leader of the Opposition V S Achuthanandan and other LDF leaders. VS is on record that the Government is very much aware that plantations are in possession of government land with ‘fake’ documents. The Government, he said, could have administered a stern warning to the erring plantation managements of action to take over the land. That would have instilled a sense of fear among the recalcitrant managements, he said. Moreover, the Government could have convened a special Assembly session to discuss the plantation strike and evolve appropriate remedial measures to ease the workers’ plight. On both counts, the Government has dismally failed to come up with an initiative, VS said, which was
as shocking as it was inexcusable.

The plantation managements say they are in no position to shoulder the burden the wage hike would impose on them. If that indeed is true – the TUs however dispute the managements’ claim of their profits having plummeted from Rs 13 crore to Rs 5 crore – then there are ways in which the Government can effectively intervene. To begin with the Government can bring down the plantation tax from the current Rs 700 to Rs 500 per hectare. Besides, the Government can also standardize the agricultural income tax on par with the central income tax. A third step is the subsidization of electricity used for plantations. At present, the tariff being levied for power used for irrigation purposes in plantations is at industrial rates. A committee comprising Finance, Labour, Power and Revenue secretaries, set up to look into the problems plaguing the plantation sector, has recommended that plantation managements appeal to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and then the government could subsidise the tariff accordingly.

Likewise, the government can also do a lot to address the educational needs of the children of plantation labourers. In a welcome move, the government has decided to upgrade the existing 24 schools, as a first step. More schools can be started to bridge the gap in the demand.

All the stake-holders are pinning great hopes on the crucial talks on November 4. The Government would first talk to the representatives of the plantation managements and follow it up with another round with the trade unions. Failure to come up with effective steps to better the lot of the workers will be too daunting to contemplate. An unavoidable consequence of talks failure will be prolonged turmoil in the plantation sector. It is time both the managements and the government shed their unhelpful attitude and adopted a proactive approach towards the workers plight. Is it too much to expect that? Time alone can tell. (IPA Service)