Tea garden workers' demo for pay hike continues

The country's tea garden workers observed a two-hour work abstention on Wednesday demanding a daily wage of Tk300 due to the price hike of daily essentials.

According to the information provided by the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, workers of over 230 tea gardens have joined the demonstration from across the country. 

The workers of Moulvibazar went on work abstention from 9am-11am, for the second straight day demanding a hike in their wages, the union's Balishari Valley President Bijoy Hazra told The Business Standard.

Uma Hazra, a woman tea garden worker, said, "We get Tk120/day as a wage. With this, we cannot survive. We are living a very difficult life. 

"We don't get enough to eat, our children are not getting a proper education. The price of everything goes up but our wages don't."

Bangladesh Tea Workers Union Balishari Valley President Vijat Hazra, said "We have been demanding to raise our wages for a long time. The owners have already proposed an increase of Tk14. That will make our daily wage Tk134. You can't even buy a litre of petrol with that." 

"Already the daily essentials items shot up in the local kitchen market and the price hike of fuel also brings a double blow for us. It is difficult for us to maintain our family with Tk 120 daily wages," he added.

The authorities concerned did not pay any heed to our demand for the past two years though there is a norm to renew the contract between two years, but no effective steps have been taken yet, forcing us to go for a movement, he said.

"We will abstain from working for two hours every day till Thursday. We will observe a half-day strike on Friday," he added.

The workers have threatened to go for a tougher movement if their demand for Tk300 daily wage is not immediately.