Minimum Wage Raised for Tea Workers After Nine Rounds of Talks

Workers in Nepal’s tea plantations will now earn a minimum daily wage of Rs 565 and a monthly wage of Rs 15,699, up from Rs 500 a day and Rs 13,893, respectively, following a new agreement between employers and trade unions. 

The deal raises the daily basic wage by Rs 39 and the dearness allowance by Rs 26. On a monthly basis, the basic wage goes up by Rs 1,162 and the allowance by Rs 644. 

The revision follows a standing agreement to review wages every two years. Consensus was reached after nine rounds of negotiations between employers and workers’ organisations, said Sant Kumar Rai, President of the Nepal Tea Coffee Workers’ Union.

The agreement was signed on September 1 at the Bhadrpur office of the Nepal Tea Producers Association by JP Sharma, coordinator of the association’s negotiation committee, and representatives of three major unions — Rai, Sita Sapkota of the All Nepal Tea Workers’ Union, and Deepak Tamang of the Nepal Tea Plantation Workers’ Union.

Rai said the deal will be forwarded to the Minimum Wage Determination Committee under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security for formal approval and publication in the government gazette.

The new wage structure will apply retroactively from July 17, the start of the current fiscal year. The settlement comes after tea workers launched protests in early August demanding a pay rise.

Jhapa, home to the largest cluster of tea estates in Nepal, employs both permanent and seasonal labourers. The agreement also includes a pledge to register permanent workers in the Social Security Fund by mid-October.

RSS