Lockout in Cachar garden

Silchar, Sept. 26: The Aylabari tea garden in Karimganj district today declared a lockout over the issue of puja bonus.Official sources said that the management announced the lockout fearing labour trouble. The workers had demanded bonus at the rate of 13 per cent while the owners insisted that the company would be able to pay only at the lowest and mandatory rate of 8.33 per cent.

Yesterday, the workers staged a sit-in at the garden, sparking the first signs of a showdown with the company this season. P.N. Singh, manager of the garden, was allegedly abused by irate labourers during the demonstration in front of his office yesterday.

The garden, owned by the Goenka Tea and Trading Company Ltd, is spread over 522 hectares and produces 3.5 lakh kg of CTC tea on an average annually.

The stalemate over the issue led to the intervention of Karimganj deputy commissioner Bhupendra Sarma yesterday.

In a meeting between the owners and workers, it was agreed that this year’s bonus would be paid at the rate of 13 per cent. But even after agreeing to pay the bonus at that rate, the company did a volte-face. According to AITUC sources in Karimganj town, the management thereafter told the district administration and labour unions that it would be difficult to pay bonus at the rate demanded by the labourers.

According to B. Baroi, assistant secretary of the Cachar Tea Workers’ Union, the labourers became restless when it was discovered that the garden manager had vacated both his bungalow and office and left the garden without informing anyone.

Union sources disclosed that workers were more incensed after discovering the lockout notice announcing the cessation of works in the garden.

A police picket has been posted today at the garden for preventing any untoward incident.
In the remaining Cachar gardens, bonus payment is expected to be over by October 1.
According to union sources, in as many as 58 gardens, the payments have been disbursed. Among them, Kaline and Binnakandi tea estates, owned by Jayshree Tea and Industries Ltd and Cheviot Agro Industries Ltd respectively, had pegged their bonus rate this year at the highest slab of 20 per cent.

On the other hand, Koomber tea garden, a flagship garden under the Goodricke group, had fixed the bonus at 13.25 per cent.
source: telegraph india