Tea workers demand wage of Tk 500 a day

The tea workers on Sunday at separate protest rallies in Moulvibazar demanded the cancellation of the new gazette and the minimum daily wage of a worker Tk 500.

They said that if the demands were not met, they would go for a strict movement.

The Central Committee of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Federation held a rally at Choumuhana Square in Srimangal in the district.

Presided over by the federation’s central president Biplab Madraji Pashi, general secretary Dipankar Ghosh, organizing secretary Kiran Shukla Baidya, finance secretary Prem Kumar Pal, member Maina Rajbhar, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front Moulvibazar district president Biswajit Nandi, tea garden workers’ leaders Dwipchan Teli, Abul Kalam Azad, Lalon Rajbhar, Ujjwal Kairi, Imran Nazir, among others, spoke at the rally.

The speakers alleged that the British introduced slavery in the tea plantations, while the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina had not considered them as human beings.

‘Right from the beginning, we have been being deprived of fair wages, modern education, medical care, housing, land rights, and free trade union rights,’ they said, adding that even today, they had not got out of that wage slavery.

Due to the weak leadership of the tea workers, they are being very rundown by the tea garden owners. Which is why, they have increased wages by only 8.50 taka, they mentioned.