10-08-2025
Haileyburia Tea Estates at Peerumade announces lockout
One of the first tea plantations started by Europeans in Peerumade in Idukki is facing closure after the management stopped all operations from Thursday.
According to workers, the management has not provided wages and benefits to employees of the Semmni Valley, Vallakkadu, Chinnar and Haileyburia divisions of Haileyburia Tea Estates Limited for the past two months.
800 permanent workers
According to plantation leaders, the four estates encompass approximately 2,400 hectares and have 800 permanent workers, besides hundreds of migrant workers. They have not received salaries and benefits for the past two months. The operations of the tea factory at Semmni Valley have also been stopped.
According to workers, the management suddenly announced the lockout. 'Plantation work is the only income for families in the area. The management failed to distribute the wages in time,' said a worker.
High Range Plantation Employees Union (INTUC) president Cyriac Thomas said that the trade unions had intervened on the issue to solve it without delay. 'A meeting with the Deputy Labour Officer will be held at Peerumade on August 13 to discuss the issue,' said Mr. Thomas.
₹1.39-crore loss
According to Haileyburia estate officials, the company has been facing a deep financial crisis for the past several months. The company faced a loss of ₹1.39 crore in the first three months of this financial year. 'The management has sought support from the workers to continue the functioning of the estates. But on August 5 some workers entered the office with outsiders and threatened the officials, resulting in the sudden lockout of the company. The non-functioning of the factory led to the loss of 25,000 kg of tea, amounting to ₹7.5 lakh,' said the officials.
According to historical records, the Haileyburia Tea Estates Limited was incorporated on August 23, 1923 by Scottish planter Frank Bissett, who planted the Semmni Valley Tea Estate and acquired the adjoining Haileyburia and Chinnar tea estates, near Elappara in Peerumade. The renowned Haileybury Public School in Hertford Heath, England, bestowed the estate with the name Haileyburia.
