Management suspends work at Simulbarie Tea Estate

Darjeeling: The management of Simulbarie Tea Estate near Siliguri has left the garden after putting up a work suspension notice late at night on Sunday. They have blamed erosion of work culture and discipline for taking the step.

The notice, dated February 24, states that despite serving notices on February 8, 16 and 21, there has been erosion of work culture and discipline in the tea estate due to a handful of workers not obeying orders of the management, misbehaving and threatening the supervisory and managerial personnel with dire consequences, resulting in a law-and-order situation.

The notice went on to state that workers were not performing the 8 hours of stipulated duty, despite repeated notices served by the management. "As a result, the production has come down to as low as 2 to 3 kg of green tea leaves per worker, thereby causing financial loss and complete loss," stated the notice.

As the situation is unmanageable, the management cannot discharge duties under such adverse conditions when their life and integrity is under threat. "Management is left with no other alternative but to declare suspension of work from February 25, 2019. No work will be available to workers and employees on and from February 25 and they will not be entitled to any wages so long as the suspension of work continues until further notice," stated the notice.

Simulbarie Tea Estate, located 18 km from Siliguri, is run by the Simulbarie Tea Company Pvt Ltd. It has 700 permanent and 500 casual workers. Annual production of tea at the estate is 6 lakh metric tonnes.