Jalpaiguri: Workers of the closed Ambari tea estate in the Banarhat block of Jalpaiguri staged a protest on Thursday by setting fire to a copy of the tripartite agreement signed with the garden management, demanding that a fresh contract be signed before the estate is reopened.

Some leaders of Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union (TCBSU) were present at the agitation.

The tea estate has been closed since December 2, 2025, leaving 1,200 workers jobless.

On August 8 of last year, the garden was closed following protests by the workers who alleged they were forced to take a leave and that their wages were not paid.

The management and workers eventually signed a 15-point agreement at the office of the joint labour commissioner in Siliguri and the garden was reopened.

The workers, however, alleged that the management did not abide by the agreed terms.

Their discontentment escalated and a section of workers had an altercation with an assistant manager. This led to the garden being shut on December 2.

Since then, the state labour department has convened meetings to facilitate the garden's reopening, but there has been no change in the situation.

“Last year, the garden was reopened based on the agreement, but the management did not follow any of the conditions outlined in it. They terminated 14 workers without proper justification and continued acting on their own, while violating the agreement,” said Bidhan Tanti, the executive president of TCBSU’s garden unit.

Shankar Ajam, president of TCBSU in Ambari tea estate, said the workers' workloads were doubled, including plucking tea leaves and spraying, in violation of the agreement.

“The management was not adhering to the contract. Any owner who wants to reopen the garden must sign a new agreement,” he asserted.

Tea workers, who joined today’s protests, echoed the leaders.

“What was the purpose of signing an agreement if the management ignores it and imposes work arbitrarily? That is against the rules. This is why we burned the agreement. The state should find a new owner and ensure that a new agreement is signed before the garden reopens,” said Reshma Baraik, a worker.

Several other tea estates in Jalpaiguri, including Raipur, Dharanipur, Redbank, Bamandanga-Tondu, Samsing and Kilcott, remain closed, with no clarity of when these would reopen.

The state labour department said they are taking the necessary initiatives.

“We are putting in our best effort to reopen the Ambari tea estate at the earliest. We are also working to facilitate the reopening of the other closed gardens of the district,” said Subhagata Gupta, the deputy labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri.