Tea workers, labour division meeting on pay hike ends without decision
Tea garden workers have called for work abstention for an indefinite period after the meeting with the authority ended without any decision on pay increase.
The labourers, who get paid Tk120 a day, said the abstention will go on until their daily wage increases to Tk300.
The meeting between the workers and Labour Division took place on Tuesday (16 August) morning.
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Labour Division Director General Khaled Mamun Chowdhury and Bangladesh Tea Workers Union President Makhan Lal Karmaker, Vice-president Pankaj Kandam, General Secretary Nipen Pal along with the branch heads of seven tea valleys attended the meeting.
Earlier, tea workers had been observing a two-hour work abstention for a week demanding better pay. But, as tea garden owners did not accept their demand, the tea workers started the strike on Saturday.
Tapan Dutta, chief adviser to the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, had told TBS that the wages of tea workers are revised every two years.
Workers' daily wage was fixed at Tk120 for two years from January 2019, he said, adding that workers then demanded that the daily pay be raised to Tk300 for the following two years while owners agreed to increase it to Tk134.
On 12 August, the Labour Division issued a notice urging tea workers to end the 2-hour work abstention to keep tea production normal.
