Moulvibazar tea workers halt train movement demanding wage hike

Rail communication with the Sylhet region remained suspended for around one and a half hours after protesting tea garden workers blocked the railway track in Kulaura of Moulvibazar demanding a wage hike to Tk300. 

Agitating tea pickers halted the Sylhet-bound Paharika Express near Chowmuhani rail line at 4pm on Tuesday (23 August), Sylhet Railway Station Manager Nurul Islam told The Business Standard.

The blockade caused no schedule disruption as the workers left the railway track around 5:20pm, Nurul Islam added.

Shubho Munda, a tea worker who participated in the blockade, said, "We took the move as the authorities are yet to meet our demand for which have been in protest for 14 days."

More than 1.5 lakh tea workers in 166 tea gardens in the country started the movement in the beginning of this month demanding an increase in daily wages from Tk120 to Tk300.

They went on work abstention for two hours a day for four days from 9 August.

On 13 August, they started a full-day strike and protest. The agitating workers also blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway for a few hours.