Longview Tea Estate Workers End Hunger Strike, Get PF Dues

Workers at Longview Tea Estate in Kurseong ended a relay hunger strike after management paid around Rs 5.9 crore (about US$617,000) in provident fund, wage and salary dues.

Millennium Post, reporting the settlement on 5 August, put the strike at 102 days. ETV Bharat, publishing a day earlier, put it at 101.

The breakdown of that payment comes from Sumendra Tamang of the Hill Plantation Employees Union, who told Millennium Post the money followed an order of the Calcutta High Court.

Tamang said it comprised around Rs 3.32 crore (about US$347,000) in provident fund deducted from workers during the agitation, and Rs 1 crore (about US$104,000) deducted between 2014 and 2025.

He put a further Rs 31 lakh (about US$32,000) as the employer's own share of PF and Rs 1.28 crore (about US$134,000) against pending salaries and wages.

That account comes from a party to the dispute, not an independent audit. ETV Bharat's own narrative, not attributed to the union, reports the same four numbers separately.

The union's original claim was considerably larger. Millennium Post reported that the HPEU alleged management had failed to pay provident fund of Rs 12 crore (about US$1.25 million) and gratuity of around Rs 84 lakh (about US$88,000).

The same allegation covered leave travel allowance of Rs 19 lakh (about US$20,000) and arrears of Rs 16 lakh (about US$17,000).

The PF elements of the settlement total roughly Rs 4.63 crore (about US$484,000) against the Rs 12 crore alleged. The gratuity, allowance and arrears claims are not addressed by it.

Tamang said the agitation will continue until the employer's remaining PF contribution, gratuity, leave travel allowance and arrears are paid.

"Out of 76 retired workers, 26 have already died without receiving their dues," Tamang told Millennium Post, adding that the union would press the Labour Department to secure the payments.

Longview covers 597 hectares (about 1,475 acres) and employs 1,241 workers, according to Millennium Post. It is owned by Siri Longview Tea and Agro Limited, whose proprietor is Govind Garg.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation lodged an FIR at the Garidhura police outpost on 22 July after representations from the HPEU. Garg was arrested in Kolkata on 26 July, and his bail plea was rejected again on Monday, 3 August.

Citing administrative sources, ETV Bharat reported that the amounts deducted from workers' wages have now been deposited in full, and that the court has ordered a further Rs 1.32 crore (about US$138,000) paid by 10 August in the matter before the high court.

Whether that payment was made is not known. Nothing on the 10 August deadline has been reported since the two accounts of 4 and 5 August, and compliance is unrecorded either way.

"Although this is a historic victory, the fight does not end here," Tamang told ETV Bharat. "A more intense movement will be launched in the future to secure the remaining gratuity dues."

Sources: Millennium Post, Longview Tea Estate workers end 102-day hunger strike after management clears dues; ETV Bharat, 101-Day Hunger Strike Ends: Kurseong Tea Garden Workers Get Outstanding Dues, Celebrate.