Union leaders meet defiance as tea workers to continue protests until demand met

The tea workers of Sylhet decided to continue their strike over their demand for a daily wage of Tk300 following a meeting with the leaders of the Panchayat Committee of 23 tea gardens.

After Tuesday's meeting, Raju Goala, president of Sylhet Valley Tea Workers' Union, said the leaders of the tea workers' union were assured in the meeting with the Moulvibazar deputy commissioner on Sunday that the prime minister would talk to the leaders and fix the new wages in the second week of next month after her India visit.

"With this assurance and showing respect to the prime minister, the union leaders decided to call off the strike but the workers did not accept this decision. So at Tuesday's meeting it was decided that the strike will continue until the demands are met. The workers will not join work before that," Raju Goala added.

On Tuesday afternoon, when the union leaders were holding the meeting with the panchayat leaders at the Sylhet Golf Club, workers from different gardens brought out a procession outside the venue.

Panchayat President of Kamichara Tea Garden Bimal Bhar said the workers will continue the agitation until the decision to increase the wages is finalised.

He said the workers were unsure whether the assurance came directly from the PM so they will continue their movement until the Tk300 daily wage is finalised.

More than 1.5 lakh tea workers in 166 tea gardens in the country started the movement at 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.