Darjeeling, March 21 -- Trouble has started brewing in the tea estates of Darjeeling Hills with uncertainty over plucking of premium first flush tea and other issues. While some tea garden unions have called for abstaining from plucking till the annual bonus is negotiated and finalised along with other issues like minimum wages, other unions have stated that negotiations can continue side by side with plucking.
The issue has snowballed into unrest and flashpoints with the management calling for work suspension in many gardens. The Sungma & Turzam Tea Estate under Jay Shree Tea and Industries Ltd. closed down. The management put up a lockout notice on Thursday. The lockout notice stated: "The management notes with serious concern that even after its repeated reasonable advice, the concerned section workers continue to undermine the management's authority, thereby making it extremely difficult for the management to administer the affairs of the garden effectively and meaningfully."
The notice went on to state that on March 19 and 20, the workforce "incited by concerned section of ill motivated workers" had refrained from plucking. The management stated that such action has far reaching consequences causing huge financial loss to the company. The notice stated that there is no pending dues of the employees payable and bonus for 2023-24 has been paid by the company at 16 per cent as per the government advisory.
Citing "constant coercion, disruption of work, intimidation of a section of workers to aggravate the existing financial stress" the management is left with no other alternative than to declare a Lockout of the tea estate and factory with immediate effect. "The lockout will continue till such time the workers come forward with a written undertaking that they will not indulge in any unlawful activities or hamper / disrupt any operations of the tea estate or factory," added the notice. Earlier, a 'no work no pay' notice had been put up by the management on March 18.
"We did not know that there would be a lockout. We had stated that on March 21 there was a meeting scheduled to be held at the Labour department following which we would pluck. They, however, tried to force workers into plucking on March 18 and 19 but the workers were not willing. Today they declared a lockout and have also levelled false allegations against workers of gherao," stated Dipika Rai, worker. In another incident Long View Tea Estate in the Kurseong sub division was witness to multiple flashpoints with two groups of workers exchanging heated words over whether to pluck or not pluck.
Meanwhile, the Hill Joint Forum, an apex body of trade unions, staged a sit-in demonstration at the Labour Office in Dagapur, Siliguri, on Friday, raising three key demands, including fixing of the annual bonus for tea garden workers, the reopening of the closed tea gardens in the hills and fixing a minimum wage for workers.
Saman Pathak, from the Joint Forum, said: "The bonus for tea garden workers for the year 2023-24 has not been fixed yet. While the state government has issued an advisory, no specific percentage has been set. We demand a fixed percentage for the workers. 12 tea gardens in the hills are currently closed. We want the government to take immediate action and reopen these gardens. We demand a fixed minimum wage for the tea gardens, which is still pending." He threatened a larger movement in the future. There are 87 tea gardens in the Hills.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.