The consumers of tea in Dhaka or other parts of the country normally sip tea with much fervour but very few of them think of how tea leaves have been collected and who are involved in this job.
One seldom imagines how doing this job of tea leaves collection has put these workers into the circle of poverty and injustice. The recent demonstrations of tea workers have unearthed the issue of prolonged systematic discrimination, especially in terms of wages.
Tea workers, who had been abstaining from work for about last two weeks and demanded the increase of their wages, continue to literally be given discriminatory wages, unlike the wages of other sectors of Bangladesh.
Before the abstention from work, each tea worker received only Tk120 daily -- a wage so low that a worker would hardly be able to manage his/her family. This is why the workers had taken the path of work abstention to press home their demand of a wage hike, with Tk300 the desired amount.
At this juncture, following the two week-long work abstention, the tea workers union discussed with the authority about the possibility of wage hike and after long discussion, daily wages have been increased to Tk170, with the prime minister herself stepping in. Bangladesh Tea Workers Union have suspended their strike and a section of the workers have already joined their work. These are the latest developments.
However, despite the wage hike and the nominal acceptance, it can be questioned as to how a person with that daily wage can survive in the wake of skyrocketing inflation in daily commodities and other essentials. In addition, the massive price hike of fuel (diesel, octane etc) have aggravated the situation further. The present daily wage is hardly sufficient to purchase even three kilograms of rice, let alone other essentials.
The right activists, educationists, and researchers have all recommended that the wage of the workers be increased up to the workers’ initial demand in a bid to ensure their healthy lives.
Furthermore, the practice of deliberately paying low wages to a certain community will ultimately and surely relegate the community members to the very margins. Consequently, people of that community will never get rid of the vicious circle of poverty; ultimately, they will be bound within the frame of generational inequality and poverty.
The tea workers’ struggle for increased daily wages is a just and legal demand and any discrimination of wages cannot go on in the name of sustaining the industry. No industry can flourish and sustain through discrimination and unfair treatment against its workers. As human beings, workers have every right to enjoy their life with equal and fair treatment.
Moreover, it is the duty of the state to ensure a wage that is at least sufficient for living and supporting one’s life.
Kirtton Chandro Das is a postgraduate student of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, University of Dhaka and can be reached at kirttonchandrodas@gmail.com.