Managers exit, 900 tea workers jobless

Step has irked workers who have not received their fortnight’s wage supposed to be disbursed on Wednesday

Workers gather in front of the closed factory of Kohinoor tea estate in Alipurduar district on Thursday: Anirban Choudhury

TT Correspondent   |   Alipurduar   |    09.12.22  :  The management of the Kohinoor tea estate in Alipurduar district reportedly abandoned the garden late on Tuesday, leaving around 900 workers jobless since Wednesday.

Such a sudden departure of the managerial representatives irked the workers who have not received their fortnight’s wage supposed to be disbursed on Wednesday.

Regular production activities have completely come to a halt in the garden.   

According to workers, as some of them reached the garden’s office on Wednesday morning for work to be assigned to them, they didn’t find any managerial representative. After some time, they came to know that the manager and three assistant managers had left the garden located in Alipurduar-II block of the district on Tuesday night.

As news spread, other workers assembled in front of the office and resorted to a demonstration. They claimed that the management had not served them any notice to suspend work.

“Throughout the year, the management makes crores of rupees from the tea garden and yet it does not clear the workers’ dues on time. Whenever workers raise the demand and ask for pay, the management leaves the tea garden on some pretext or other,” said Bidyut Gun, a Citu leader based in Alipurduar.

He accused the Kohinoor management of not yet clearing provident fund and gratuity dues amounting to around Rs 20 crore.  “And mow, even the wage payment is irregular,” the trade union leader added.  

On Thursday, a police team and representatives of the block administration visited the garden and asked workers to maintain peace.

Representatives of the tea company that runs the garden, however, claimed that managers left the garden out of insecurity.

“We have regularly paid wages but this time there was a delay about which we had informed the workers earlier. We sought their cooperation, but unfortunately, there is no discipline among a section of workers. The management has not closed down the garden, but yes, the managerial employees left because they felt insecure,” said Vaibhav Sinha, a director of the company, over the phone from Siliguri.

Ramjhora reopens

In another development, work resumed at Ramjhora tea estate, which is also in the same district, after a gap of eight days on Wednesday, following intervention by trade unions.  

Work stopped in the garden last week after Ramjhora labourers sought to work only one shift while the management wanted them to serve two shifts.

As a result, workers abstained from joining their duties, which led to a stalemate