Tea garden workers protest over bonus; management releases first instalment

Workers of a tea garden in north Bengal staged protests demanding a bonus ahead of Durga Puja. The protests were held by workers of the Nagaisuri tea garden in Jalpaiguri district on September 26 and 27, who sought 20% of their wages as bonus. Police resorted to a baton charge to disperse the protestors.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday shared a video of the police action on social media, and said that the crackdown was without any provocation on the unarmed tea workers.

“Under Mamata Banerjee’s misrule, the State’s tea workers have always been deprived. Mamata Banerjee goes to north Bengal and makes big promises to the tea workers, but they do not even get their rightful due,” Mr. Adhikari said. 

The workers of Nagaisuri tea garden had called off their agitation after management assured them that the bonus would be paid in three instalments. West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Banerjee had announced that tea garden workers would receive 20% of their wages as bonus in the festive season of 2025.  

“We got the first instalment of the bonus on Sunday (September 28). Had the workers not protested, they would not have gotten any bonus. This is because we are familiar with the track record of the management,” said Kirsen Kharia, central committee member of Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity (PBCMS), a union of tea garden workers. Mr. Kharia added that the management had provided only half of the bonus so far, with the remaining amount promised in two instalments.

Emphasising that a bonus is not charity but a statutory right under the Payment of Bonus Act, PBCMS said in a press statement that the crisis reflects a larger pattern of exploitation by the Merico-Sammelan group, which runs 12–13 gardens in the region.

“In at least nine of these gardens, workers are suffering pending wages of two to six months, while the management has deducted Provident Fund contributions for two to three years without depositing a single rupee in EPFO. This is a criminal breach of trust and a brazen theft of workers’ hard-earned money,” the statement said.