Tea workers strike: 44 lakh kg of green tea leaves go unharvested in Chattogram

About 44 lakh kilograms of green tea leaves could not be harvested in the last 11 days in 23 tea gardens in Chattogram due to the ongoing strike of tea workers demanding pay hike.

As the leaves were not collected in time, they lost their usefulness for tea production. About 10.11 lakh kilograms of tea worth Tk21.24 crore could have been obtained by processing these leaves, said tea garden owners and workers.

The workers said the full responsibility for this loss rests with tea estate owners. The country's tea industry would not have come to such a waste if there was no dispute over wages. Therefore, they demanded the owners be positive in resolving the problem by increasing the wages of tea workers as soon as possible.

On 9 August, tea workers in Chattogram started a two-hour a day strike to demand an increase in daily wages from Tk120 to Tk300. Later on 13 August, they started an indefinite strike. This strike went on for 11 consecutive days till 21 August.

About 16,000 workers work in 23 tea gardens in Chattogram. Since Monday, workers of 21 tea gardens out of 23 joined work, but 1,200 workers in the Ramgarh and Dantamara tea estates did not turn up for work on Tuesday either, said Niranjan Nath Montu, president of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union of Chattogram Valley.

Uppal Biswas, manager of Rangapani tea garden in Fatikchari upazila of Chattogram, told The Business Standard (TBS) that an average of 15,000 kg of green tea leaves are harvested daily in the Rangapani tea garden.

August, September, and October are the peak season of tea production. The impact of losses incurred in the 11 consecutive days will be felt throughout the season. It is feared tea production will drop 15-20% relative to the production target for the current season, he added.

Tea workers' union leaders said the tea industry of the country has suffered due to the strike, but such a crisis would not have been created if there was a positive response regarding the wages of  workers.

Tapan Dutta, Chief Advisor of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, told TBS that tea workers have been protesting since January 2021 for a wage hike. Such a situation would not have arisen if the owners had responded positively instead of shuffling excuses.

The wages of tea workers are set every two years. From January 2019 to December 2020, the wages were fixed at Tk120. For the next two years, they demanded a daily wage of Tk300, but the owners said that they would increase it by Tk14 and set it at Tk134. Since then wages have stayed at Tk120 and not increased in the last 18 months.

Rafiqul Islam, chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Association Chattogram branch, refused to comment in this regard.