Call for meetings to talk Darj tea garden 'lockout'

SNS, DARJEELING. 19 DECEMBER 2020: The trade union of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha's Bimal Gurung faction today demanded meetings to discuss the lockdown at the Singtom Tea Estate in Singtom Tea Estate Darjeeling.

A notice was pasted by the managerial staff of the tea garden owned by Camellia Tea Group Private Limited at the tea factory there, announcing its lockout recently.

"A meeting should be called to discuss the matter with the management by the Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC), for which we have written to him, along with the District Magistrate and the Darjeeling Tea Association. As they have used the word lockout in their notice, the government should announce it as abandoned and process of FAWLAI must be started," the Morcha trade union leader, Milan Pradhan, said here today

The notice pasted on 17 December stated that the managers have not been able to run the garden as they were not able to pay arrears of the workers.

The notice maintained that the garden owners were unable to pay the 5 percent of the bonus amount, the 2nd installment of the last Puja bonus, to their workers, along with two fortnight wages and one month salary for the staff. It further said that Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) was also not paid for the past two years in the garden.

The trade union said the government should cancel the lease of the company and could also think on lines of running it themselves. They also alleged that the tea garden management took such a step during the winter when there was no work in the tea garden. The total strength of the garden is around 850, sources said.