HT Correspondent
MARGHERITA, July 10: In response to a call by the Central Executive Committee of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), the Margherita branch of the organisation staged demonstrations on Wednesday across multiple tea gardens in the region.
Tea garden workers held dharnas in front of the managers’ offices at 38 tea estates under the Margherita branch of the ACMS, pressing for a series of demands aimed at improving their working and living conditions.
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Key demands included raising the daily wages of workers in large tea estates to ₹351 and increasing the minimum daily wages of workers in small tea gardens to ₹250, as per existing government notifications.
Other demands included revision of salaries for sub-staff, enhancement of leave and travel allowances, amendment of the Tea Garden Labour Act to eliminate anti-worker provisions, a halt to arbitrary uprooting of tea bushes and sale of tea garden land for industrial purposes, and ensuring that if the 15 tea estates owned by Andrew Yule Tea Company in Assam are to be sold, they be handed over only to reputed tea companies capable of paying workers their rightful dues.
The protesters submitted a memorandum listing these demands, with copies forwarded to the Chief Minister of Assam, the Labour Minister, and the Labour Welfare Department.
The Margherita branch of the ACMS, along with its affiliated units, warned that failure to address these issues would lead to a large-scale democratic movement by tea garden workers in the near future.
