Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her government has always been trying to improve the living condition of tea workers as she believes she has special responsibility towards them as her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave them citizenship. She came up with this statement while exchanging views with tea workers through a video conference from her official Ganabhaban residence in capital Dhaka on Saturday. Tea workers joined the meeting from Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sylhet and Chattogram through a video conference
On August 27, the premier, on behalf of the workers, set the daily wage at Taka 170 rising it from Taka 120 after a meeting with the tea garden owners while the other facilities for them would be increased proportionately. Responding to prime minister’s call, tea garden workers on August 29 joined work after a 19-day demonstration demanding a wage hike. Earlier, workers of 231 tea estates across the country launched a movement on August 9 to press home their demand for a daily wage of Taka 300 and they started an indefinite strike from August 13.
Contributions of tea workers to the
national economy are undeniable
Apart from wage hike, the tea workers would also be facilitated with plucking bonus, factory right work income, annual leave allowance, festival leave with pay, sick leave, employer’s contribution to provident fund and annual festival allowance.
Tea is one of our most important cash crops and once tea was the second most exported product. Tea production in Bangladesh was 60 million kg in 2009, which increased to 97.51 million kg in 2021, but the product was not exported much, so the government has decided to take steps to increase its export.
There is a huge global demand for our country’s tea, but it is not exported due to an increase in local demand and lack of export incentives. The government has started producing tea in the country's northern region, where 14.55 million kg of tea was produced in 2021.
Contributions of tea workers to the national economy are massive and undeniable. Tea estate owners need to change their mindset and attitude toward workers and they must learn to consider the workers as partners. Over 150,000 people are working in tea gardens across the country. We hope the owners will always stay beside the workers for the greater interest of the tea industry.
