After 16 days, Hatijan tea workers return to work following talks by unions, MLA
Breakthrough reached at ACMS garden during a unit meeting with AASAA, ATTSA leaders and MLA Gowala
A file image of protest by plantation workers of Hatijan tea estate near Duliajan Oil town (AT Image)
Dibrugarh, Nov 20: After sixteen days of complete shutdown at Hatijan tea estate, workers has decided to withdraw their strike and return to work, following decisive intervention by the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA), the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA), and local MLA Terash Gowala.
The involvement of the local MLA and the two organisations proved pivotal at a time when the district administration had failed to resolve the prolonged standoff between workers and management.
The breakthrough came during a general meeting of the garden unit of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), held in the presence of AASAA and ATTSA leaders and MLA Gowala, on Wednesday.
After extensive discussions, workers collectively agreed to resume operations from November 20, 2025, acknowledging that continued shutdown would only worsen their own economic hardship and jeopardise the future of the estate.
With work now set to resume, ABITA Zone I secretary Madhurjya Barooah expressed gratitude to MLA Terash Gowala and the leaders of AASAA and ATTSA for their crucial role in settling the impasse peacefully.
Barooah noted that the prolonged shutdown had harmed the workers most severely and stressed the need to let legal processes address grievances impartially.
He added that unity and responsibility on the part of both workers and management were essential to protecting Hatijan tea estate and safeguarding the livelihoods of hundreds of dependent families.
It needs to be mentioned here that the 16-day abandonment has already inflicted serious agronomic damage to the garden. The tea estate, owned by Dhunseri Tea and Industries Ltd., is reportedly facing escalating threats from pest.