Tea workers want Tk500 daily wage

Tea workers blocked the Sylhet-Tamabil highway on Saturday, demanding that their minimum daily wage be raised to Tk 500.

The Tea Workers Trade Union Centre organised the demonstration at Khadim Tea Garden around 9:30am. Workers observed a two-hour work stoppage and later blocked the highway.

They also demanded the withdrawal of what they called the controversial gazette granting a 5% wage increase, ownership rights over the land where they live, and elections to the Tea Workers Union, or CBA.

Speakers at the rally said the current wage structure was inhumane amid rising prices of essential goods. They described the annual wage increase of only Tk 8 as a “farce and mockery”.

They said it was impossible for a family to survive on the current daily wage of Tk 187 and called for a fair wage that would allow workers to live with dignity.

The leaders also highlighted the workers’ longstanding demand for land rights. Despite living in tea-growing areas for nearly 200 years, many workers remain landless, they said.

They argued that the lack of land ownership deprived tea workers of basic civic facilities and constitutional rights.

SM Shuvo, chief coordinator of the organisation, urged workers from tea gardens across the country to unite behind the demand for a Tk 500 daily wage.

Earlier, a protest procession began at the Loha Pool area of Khadim Tea Garden and marched through different roads inside the estate before reaching and blocking the Sylhet-Tamabil highway.

Tea Workers Trade Union Centre President Sabuj Tanti chaired the rally, while Coordinator Manisha Wahid moderated it.

Chief Coordinator SM Shuvo, adviser Syed Farhad Hossain, Office Secretary Dipto Nayek and Burjan Tea Factory workers’ leader Sushanta Chasha were among those who addressed the gathering.