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There was good-natured ribbing when the trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) and Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha (MMS) general secretary Dhunji Naterwalla and president Chandbibi Zaidi gathered with some union members to sign a new wage agreement at the BPP boardroom on November 19, 2019. BPP trustee Kersi Randeria jokingly told Naterwalla, "Pencil thi naa sign karta, aapré bhusri kaarsu (Do not sign with a pencil, we may erase it)” while the audiovisual equipment was being set up. All meetings in the boardroom of the BPP are now apparently being recorded electronically.   
The previous agreement had expired in December 2017. After a few inconclusive meetings to reach consensus, "serious negotiations” restarted in June this year, Randeria told Parsiana on November 21 in a telephonic interview. The new agreement is effective April 2019 to March 2022. "Effectively, this is a 51-month settlement,” said Randeria. For the first two financial years (FY) starting April 1, 2019, the employees will get monthly increments of Rs 2,000 over their existing salaries. For FY starting April 1, 2021, the monthly increment will be Rs 3,000. Some leave rules have been tightened: sick leave needs to be supported by a medical certificate; some bonus rules have been rationalized. "We did not negotiate at all on the demands of the pallbearers…we agreed to all their demands…they are doing a valuable service,” said Randeria. The period January 2018 to March 2019 was covered by an ex gratia payment of Rs 35,000 on an average for all employees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "Full marks to Randeria for completing this,” appreciated BPP chairman Yazdi Desai at the signing ceremony. "Every agreement in the past has been very generous,” Randeria told Parsiana. "The union is generally cooperative except for that one-day incident last year,” he said. On August 21, 2018, 226 employees had taken a day’s casual leave as a protest against nonpayment of bonus before Navroz 2018 (see "A masoor dal Navroz,” Parsiana, September 7, 2018). "We are sorry for the trouble caused to the Parsi community (for taking the casual leave),” apologized one union member.
"The days of masoor dal are over…the workers will now have biryani…The negotiations were very tough. Let us (now) work with trust… If Randeria had not intervened (in the negotiations), shaayad hum ko dusra rasta léna padta (we may have had to take a different route),” Naterwalla said. The MMS general secretary had told Parsiana over the phone earlier that he had almost given up hope of a direct settlement and the matter may have had to go for a formal resolution. He suggested that a small committee should be formed within the BPP to "handle day-to-day (union related) issues.” Randeria responded that "the trust is facing financial difficulties… There was a lack of communication and false impressions (about each other) in the beginning,” He told the members present that "(their) leaders always had your welfare in mind.”
"We are grateful for the unity among our members… (The BPP should) start saving (money) from now for the next wage agreement,” Zaidi stated. BPP trustee Viraf Mehta counseled the union members "Izzat imandari sé kaam karna (work with respect and honesty).”