2,000 Cachar tea estate workers protest over dues, Puja bonus slash

Silchar: Nearly 2,000 workers of the Pallorbond tea estate in Cachar district are up in arms over pending rations, irregular wages and the management’s unilateral decision to slash their Durga Puja bonus.The estate authorities recently issued a notice recommending an 8.33% bonus without holding any discussion with the workers. Enraged by what they termed as ‘arbitrary and discriminatory’, the workers warned in Silchar on Sunday that they would not accept anything less than what other estates in the Barak Valley are paying.Standing firmly behind the workers, the Intuc-affiliated Barak Cha Shramik Union demanded at least a 20% bonus this season.Union general secretary Rajdeep Goala alleged that since 2023, the management has been defaulting not only on wages and rations but also on provident fund deposits. At the gathering on the Cachar Cha Shramik Union premises here, workers from all five divisions of the estate echoed the union’s stand.