Demanding pay hike, tea workers go on work abstention

Workers of 241 tea gardens across the country enforced a work abstention today, demanding increase of their daily wage – Tk 300 from Tk 120.

The workers will go into work abstention for two hours daily from 9am on August 9, 10 and 11, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent.

After they started the work abstention this morning, they also brought out processions in favour of their demand inside their respective tea gardens.

Nipen Pal, general secretary (acting) of the central committee of Bangladesh Tea Workers' Union, said the protest was announced jointly by the union headquarters and other units.

He said, "In order to make the programme a success, we held a views exchange meeting with the tea garden panchayet in the last two days in all the valleys."

"The tea workers have been demanding raise in their wage from Tk 120 to Tk 300. However, the owners have proposed an increase of Tk 14. If they raise the wage by Tk 14, the worker will get Tk 134. How will a worker survive in 2022 with Tk 134?" he said.

SulekhaBauri, a tea worker at Khadimnagar Tea Garden in Sylhet Sadar upazila, said, "We have a family of five. Only two kg of rice is available at Tk 100. But our daily wage is Tk 120. Most days we have to go hungry."

When contacted, Mohammad Nahidul Islam, deputy director of Sylhet divisional labour office, said the tea workers'wages aresetthrough a bilateral agreement between the owners and the tea workers' union. We can't interfere in it. But if they seek a settlement then we can negotiate with the two parties.