The management representatives of Mainak Hills tea estate have announced that it would reopen from Monday, much to the relief of some 700 permanent workers and 300-odd casual workers jobless for around 10 days.

The management had announced work suspension in the garden — spread over Maynaguri block of Jalpaiguri district and Mekhliganj block of Cooch Behar district — on July 22 after a Trinamul-backed tea trade union resorted to protests over the transfer of three supervisors.

On Sunday, a meeting was held at the Indian Tea Planters’ Association office here among representatives of the company and tea trade unions.

Sumit Sarkar, the general manager of the garden, called Sunday’s meeting “fruitful”. “We decided to reopen the garden from Monday. Trade unions assured us that they will extend cooperation to us to run the garden,” Sarkar said.

In Mainak Hills, there are two main tea trade unions, one affiliated to Inttuc (Trinamul’s workers’ front) and the other is the BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. The Inttuc-backed union started a protest in the garden after three supervisors were transferred from a division of the garden in Maynaguri block. The management alleged that the stir had hit regular activities and suspended work on July 22.

Mithu Mohanta, the Jalpaiguri district Inttuc president, welcomed the resumption of activities in the garden from Monday. “However, there are certain pending issues related to workers’ benefits. That is why it has been decided that a similar bipartite meeting would be held in ITPA on August 17 to discuss those,” Mohanta said.