On the occasion of May Day, tea workers of the country gathered in Sreemangal of Moulvibazar on Sunday to demand a fair wage and other facilities.
Bangladesh Tea Workers Union (BTWU) President Makhan Lal Karmakar presided over the rally that took place at Majdihi Tea Garden. Workers from Chittagong, Sylhet and other places attended the event.
Later, the annual meeting of the union was held at the same venue.
The theme for the historic day in Bangladesh is "Sramik-Malik Ekota, Unnoyoner Nischoyota'' (roughly translated as “workers-owners unity assures of development”).
The day is also known as International Workers' Solidarity Day.
Speaking at the event, the BTWU leaders asked the government to ensure an end to discrimination and harassment of the tea workers, and increase the wage according to the current situation.
They alleged that the tea garden owners were reluctant to follow the bilateral agreement signed in 2020, when the workers’ minimum daily wage had been set at Tk120 per day with retrospective effect from January 1, 2019.
Terming the wage inhuman, they said that the owners had been trying to hinder an increase in the wage even after three years.
Also Read - Survey: 74% tea garden workers still living in poverty
The workers’ leaders have been urging the government to make it Tk300 per day.
In the morning, the tea garden workers started the day’s observance by hoisting the national flag and singing the national anthem in chorus. BTWU’s Balishira Valley President Bijoy Hajra gave the opening speech at the rally.
Convener of the Bangladesh Tea Association and Finley Tea Company’s Chief Operating Officer Tahsin Ahmed Chowdhury, BTWU Vice President Pankaj Kanda, Executive Adviser and Kamalganj Upazila Vice Chairman Ram Bhajan Kairi, and advisers Anjan Datta and Parag Baroi also spoke at the rally among others.
Around 100,000 people are working in more than 150 tea gardens across the country, many of whom lead miserable life due to economic hardship.
In Sylhet alone, as many as 74 % of tea garden workers live below the poverty line, according to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the Unicef released in 2021.
Female workers struggle with hygiene-related issues during menstruation, maternity, and childcare. They work more than eight hours a day in extreme weather conditions, with little access to resting places and washing facilities, it said. Besides, early marriage, dowry, and domestic violence are common against tea garden workers.