A total of 1,176 workers
of Debpara tea garden in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district have lost their jobs as the management has put up a 'suspension of work' notice, trade union leaders said on Friday.
The tea garden workers staged a demonstration after seeing the notice on Thursday, they said.
"Tea garden workers had agreed to work in double shifts during the plucking season that begins in March after a decision regarding this was taken during a meeting held last year in the presence of the joint labour commissioner.
"Now, a section of the workers are being misguided. A large number of tea leaves will rot if they are not plucked on time," Amritangshu Chakraborty, an adviser to Indian Tea Planters' Association, said.
Trade union leaders alleged that the workers of the tea garden had demanded double pay for two shifts which the management refused to accept.
"If there were issues, the management should have discussed them with the workers instead of leaving the tea garden," Cha Bagan Trinamool Congress Mazdoor Union leader Tabarak Ali said.
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