Lewis Perin wrote in message ...
Thursday there was a mass murder, apparently related to a labor
struggle, in a West Bengal garden. It hasn't received much attention
in the Western media but there is this article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3246079.stm

You can also find stories in the South Asian press by searching Google
News at

http://news.google.com/

but I was confused by the articles I've seen there because they're
written for readers familiar with the political situation. Ripon, do
you have anything to say about this? SMC, are you reading this?

/Lew

Lew:

Well, this news came to the local newspaper yesterday and today.
According to this article in BBC.com my understanding is the tea
gardens are hiring new labourers to replace some existing laborers who
were probably trying to bargain for their rights (which 9 times out of
ten are never taken into consideration by the owners). They are
feeling threatened. If they lose their jobs then it will be difficult
for them to survive and feed their families. That's why this pathetic
incident happened. I think, they need to try to provide some basic
rights (better wages including back pay and overtime pay which is
usually late or not given, medical facilities, better working and
living conditions, maternity leave, work on a contract basis rather
than oral commitment -- this makes it very easy to fire people, etc.
etc.) with the exisiting labourers who's financial and social
situation is very tenuous.

Talking about trade unions, there are always two groups: one which
really represents laborers and another which just works for the
owners. The latter are almost always very connected to political
leaders. This is an old traditional culture in south Asian politics.
For this kind of practice, the rights of labourers are always
jeporadised. The labour union leaders get hefty benefits from the
owners by not fighting for the mass labourers' rights. These labour
union leaders are praised by owners and sometimes by the government.
This way the real labor rights movement always fails. I think for
this kind of frustration many incidents happen and will continue in
the near future. Some serious solutions are needed in the tea gardens
where labourers will get fresh water, clean toilets, fair wages, a
fair working environment, decent living conditions, good medical
facilities, etc. Thats all I can say right now. I would love to know
what other readers think about this issue.

Ripon
(From Bangladesh)