Lockout at Rongmook Ceder Tea Estate in Darjeeling

darjeeling: The Management of Rongmook Ceder Tea Estate below Sonada in the Darjeeling subdivision, declared a lockout in the garden from Monday, complaining of absence of proper work culture. A notice to this effect was put up in the garden on Monday.

The workers of the garden have been on an agitation path since April 15. The daily wage workers of the Rongmook Ceder Tea Estate have not been receiving their wages for the past two fortnights and the staff and sub staff salary for the past 3 months.

The notice read: “The Management has been observing over a period of time that a section of workers instigated by an unregistered organization has been causing willful indiscipline, insubordination of executives causing work loss to the company, whereby it is not possible to run the estate appropriately. Hence this Management is left with no other alternative but to declare a lock out of this estate w.e.f 24 April 2023.”

Rongmook Ceder is run by Royal Ruby Tea and Agro Co. Copies of the lockout notice have been sent to the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police along with all operational trade unions.

When contacted over the phone, the owner of the garden Sushil Mitruka stated: “There is lack of proper work culture in the garden. The workers are not allowing us to transport ready tea from the garden. How will we pay the workers? If there is improvement in work culture and they allow us to shift the ready tea we will open the garden.”