Tea workers observe 2-hour work abstention demanding pay hike

Workers of 200 tea gardens across the country observed a two hour- work abstention today, demanding a hike in wages and bonus for Durga Puja.

They also threatened to go for a tougher programme if their demands are not met, our Moulvibazar correspondent reports.

Over one lakh of workers observed the work abstention for two hours from 9:00am, said Rambhajan Kairi, general secretary of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union.

The workers said it is very difficult to run their families with the current daily wage of Tk 102.

They are not able to bear the education cost of their children and while prices of commodities have risen,their wages have not increased accordingly, the workers said.

Raju Goala, organising secretary of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, said they placed a demand of Tk 300daily wages at a meeting with the tea garden owners. Twenty-one months have passed, but they are still receiving the Tk 102 per day.

"We demand the implementation of a new wage structure for tea workers immediately. If our demands are not met, tea garden workers across the country will go for tougher action. Besides, a road blockade programme will be announced across the country," he said.

GM Shiblee, chairman of tea garden owners' platform Bangladesh Cha Sangsad, Sylhet branch, told ourcorrespondent that the government has formed a wage board to fix tea workers' wages. The board sat in five meetings since last December.

"We want to pay them taka 110 daily but they are demanding Tk120," he said.

"Since the wage board is still working, the sudden strike of the workers is unreasonable," he added.

As part of the protest, workers of 27 tea gardens in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar observed a strike yesterday.