Tea pickers’ daily wage hiked by Tk50 to Tk170

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed the tea garden owners to increase the daily wage of workers to Tk170 from the existing rate of Tk120. 

The hike of Tk50 in the daily income of the tree plantation workers was decided following a meeting between tea garden owners and the prime minister held Saturday, said Dr Ahmed Kaikaus, principal secretary to the PM. 

The prime minister has asked workers to attend work and said she would talk to them through video conference on a later day, Kaikaus told the media. 

The workers observed continuous strikes in 241 tea gardens across the country demanding an increase in daily wages in line with commodity prices. 

They sought Tk300 minimum daily wage instead of the present rate of Tk120. 

From 9 to 11 August, the labourers held two-hour work abstinence every day. 

An indefinite strike began on 13 August. 

The Central Committee of the Tea Workers Union called off the strike after a meeting with the administration on 21 August, who offered to hike the wage by Tk25 from Tk120 to Tk145.

The administration then told the union that the prime minister would sit with the tea workers after her visit to India next month. 

But the common workers rejected the proposal and vowed to continue the strike until their demand for a Tk300 daily wage is met. 

Garden owners meet PM