Hundreds of workers of 232 tea gardens in Moulvibazar of Sylhet observed a work abstention for the second day on Wednesday demanding a daily wage of Tk300 due to price hike of daily essentials.
The strike was announced by the joint decision of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union and various valleys.
Noor Mia, chairman of the Panchayat Committee of the Chai Ura Tea Garden, said, if there is no decision on increasing their wages comes by Thursday, a half-day strike will be observed again on Friday.
Champa Tanti, a tea worker at the Kalighat tea garden, said that she gets Tk120 as a daily wage.
“The owners are saying that the garden owners will pay Tk134 by increasing Tk14. My question is, how can I survive with only Tk134 a day? Everything is so expensive. I can't even buy fish and meat when I go to the market,” she added.
Other tea workers echoed the same concern.
When contacted on phone, Chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Association Shah Alam said: "We also proposed to increase the wages by Tk14 according to our policy. Most of the plantations are loss-making. The tea market is not that good. Fuel oil prices have also increased. Tea workers are given ration flour. You have to consider these things too.”
To make the strike successful, an exchange meeting was held with 34 tea garden panchayats in Juri Valley of Moulvibazar on Sunday.
On Sunday, Raju Goala, president of Tea Workers Union Sylhet Valley, said: “We have been demanding to raise our wages for a long time but no response has come yet. The daily essentials items already 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 Tk120 daily wages.”
“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,” he said.
The leader also threatened to go for a tougher movement if their demand for a Tk300 daily wage was not met immediately.
On August 1, the Central Committee of the Tea Workers Union sent a letter to the Bangladeshi Tea Parliament regarding the determination of increased wages for the workers and the fulfilment of other demands.
The letter stipulated a time frame of seven days to accept the demand. As the demands failed to be met within this period, the union decided to go on a strike.