Dhaka, Bangladesh (CU)_ Around 150,000 employees at over 200 tea farms in Bangladesh started a strike demanding a 150 percent increase in their dollar-a-day salaries, which according to researchers are one of the lowest in the world. The majority of tea workers in the Muslim majority country are low-caste Hindus, who are the descendants of colonial-era British plantation laborers. The minimum pay for tea plantation workers in the nation is 120 taka per day, or around $1.25 at official exchange rates, but a little over $1 on the open market.
One of the workers stated that the amount was not even sufficient to purchase food. Anjana Bhuyian said, “Nowadays we can’t even afford coarse rice for our family with this amount”. She added, “A wage of one day can’t buy a liter of edible oil. How can we then even think about our nutrition, medication, or children’s education?”. Workers at the country’s 232 tea gardens reportedly launched a full-scale walkout on Saturday, after four days of two-hour stoppages. This comes as unions are requesting a raise of 300 taka a day since inflation is growing and the currency is depreciating.
Sitaram Bin, a member of the Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union’s council, stated, “Nearly 150,000 tea workers have joined the strike today”. He said, “No tea worker will pluck tea leaves or work in the leaf processing plants as long as the authority doesn’t pay heed to our demands”. Following an 18 taka pay increase last year, plantation owners have proposed an increase of 14 taka per day. According to the chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Association, M. Shah Alom, operators were going through challenging times, with profits dropping in recent years. He said, “The cost of production is increasing. Our expenses have increased as the price of gas, fertilizer and diesel have gone up”.
According to researchers, tea workers, who reside in some of the country’s most isolated regions, have been deliberately abused by the business for decades. According to Philip Gain, head of the study group Society for Environment and Human Development and author of books on tea workers, tea workers are comparable to modern-day slaves. He added, “The plantation owners have hijacked the minimum wage authorities and kept the wages at some of the lowest in the world.”
