Tea garden workers continue strike

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hold talks with tea estate owners Saturday as the workers at the country’s 167 tea plantations continued their indefinite strike for the 18th day Friday for raising their wages to Tk 300 from Tk 120.

The workers abstained from work today, but they did not stage any demonstrations, said Deorachra Tea Garden Panchayat Committee President Subod Kurmi.

Besides, there will be Panchayat committee meetings in 92 plantations of Moulvibazar district on Friday night to discuss the further steps to press for the pay hike.

Meanwhile, PM Hasina is scheduled to meet with representatives from tea plantation workers and owners sides at Ganabhaban on Saturday afternoon, confirmed PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.

The movement started on August 9, when workers from 241 tea gardens in the country abstained from work for two hours, demanding Tk 300 as daily wages. As their demand was not met, they decided to go on a full-scale strike from August 13.

After holding meetings with tea garden owners and other stakeholders in the past two weeks, the tea workers’ union agreed to the resumption of work from Monday and got Tk 120 as wages for the time being, but that was rejected by the general workers.

The ongoing strike is the continuation of the previously declared movement by the tea garden workers.