Leaders of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union have collected forms filled out by tea plantation workers, who have aired their grievances and made demands, and sent them to the ruling party’s top brass in Calcutta.

The trade union of tea estate workers, which is affiliated to the Trinamool Congress, launched the exercise to redress the labourers’ grievances at the instruction of Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the party.

During his visit to Majherdabri tea garden on January 3, 2026, Abhishek interacted with workers and addressed some of their issues on the stage itself.

Sources said, soon after the visit, Abhishek instructed trade union leaders to visit every household in tea gardens and distribute complaint forms to workers. Party leaders believe that the central leadership is probably looking to formulate strategies based on the grievances received from the ground.

Nakul Sonar, the chairman of the Trinamool trade union in Alipurduar district, said: “We have collected the forms from garden residents and have sent them to Calcutta according to the instructions of our general secretary. The process has just been
completed.”

Trinamool has started organising micro-level meetings in tea gardens to further reach out to the workers ahead of the Assembly polls.

Trade union leaders said the key demands of the labourers were creche facilities for children, health centres, free school bus services and safe drinking water.

In the last Assembly elections, the BJP had won most seats in the brew belt. The tea garden workers and families influence the results in around 15 Assembly
constituencies.

Observers said, despite the losses in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool had been relentless in its efforts to make inroads into the tea belt.

The BJP-affiliated Bharatiya Tea Workers Union (BTWU), however, dismissed Trinamool’s initiative.

Rajesh Barla, general secretary of the BTWU, Alipurduar district unit, said: “All plans of Trinamool will fail again. In many tea gardens, wages remain unpaid for months. There has been no progress in fixing minimum wages, and workers have lost faith in Trinamool. Like previous elections, workers will support the BJP this time also.”