India tea strike 'breakthrough'

Tea estates in West Bengal have stood idle after the strikes

There has been a breakthrough in negotiations to find a settlement on the wage rate for tea labourers in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.

But officials say a final decision is yet to be made on the issue.

The acting mediator between the planter's unions and the tea labourers unions, told the BBC both sides have agreed to a wage rate.

He said for the next two years, the labourers will get a daily wage rise of two rupees (five cents) each year.

The mediator, West Bengal Labour Minister Mohammed Amin, said that would then rise to two rupees fifty paisa in the third year (a little over five cents).

But the BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta said that the negotiations are now stuck on the question of when exactly the hike should be applicable.

The unions want the new wage rate to be effective from April 2003, when the previous wage settlement expired.

But the management say the new rate should be effective from the current financial year (April 1, 2005).

Nearly 500,000 tea labourers have been on an indefinite strike in West Bengal since 11 July.

They initially wanted their wages to be doubled but have now reduced that demand significantly.