A meeting of tea worker and tea industry owners held in Jhapa in the presence of representatives of three big political parties and their trade unions took the decision.
The meeting also agreed to raise gratuity amount and overtime pay.[break]
Employers have agreed to raise daily wage of tea estate workers to Rs 158 and factory workers to Rs 170. Earlier, the employers were paying Rs 120 per day for workers in both categories. The workers had been demanding the employers to increase daily wage to Rs 226, as per the agreement that the government reached with Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Nepalese Industries and trade unions of big political parties.
The employers have also agreed to raise incentive for tea workers to Rs 2 per kg. Earlier, they were providing just Rs 1.25 per kg as incentive.
“Gratuity for workers have also been increased to Rs 28,000 from Rs 20,000,” a participant of the meeting told Republica.
The employers and workers have also agreed to change working style as per mutual understanding.
Tea workers had launched strike in February, putting forth 28-point demand. They had returned to work after the government formed a high-level panel to study the demands and recommend measures to address them within three months.
The workers had started fresh protest from Sunday, accusing the high-level panel of doing nothing within the stipulated timeframe.
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