A memoranda of settlement was signed in Jamshedpur on Saturday between Tata Steel [Get Quote] and Tata Workers' Union for wage revision and other related issues for employees of the Jamshedpur facility.

The period of operation of settlement will be for a period of 10 years from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2016, a company release said.

As per the settlement provisions, the revised minimum wage for the lowest paid employees as on January 1, 2007 would be Rs 8,080, while it would be Rs 12,720 in Supervisor category.

The minimum basic of the lowest workmen grade (R-1) rose from Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,080, while the maximum basic of the highest supervisory grade (N-20) shot up from Rs 13,650 to Rs 22,810 per month.

The minimum guaranteed benefit per month in the basic salary of each employee will be 33 per cent of the basic salary of the employee as on December 31, 2006.

Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman and TWU president Raghunath Pandey and senior executives of the company and union office-bearers signed the settlement in the presence of conciliation officer and deputy labour commissioner, Jamshedpur.

Pandey later told newsmen that as per the agreement, arrears would be paid in three equal installments in January, April and August 2009 as an estimated 16,500 employees of the steel major would be benefited from the wage revision.

He further said the agreement was a tentative one as the final agreement would be based on the wage revision of National Joint Council for Steel. The agreement will be effective from January 1, 2007.

The agreement will be revised based on the revision of NJCS, as the company had promised to give better benefits than NJCS, he added.