The workers of Imam Tea Garden and Bhabani Tea Garden in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj issued an ultimatum on Monday to stage a demonstration on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway on Wednesday to press home their five-point demand, including immediate payment of their due wages.
They issued the ultimatum at a rally in front of the office of Imam Tea Garden at Nabiganj upazila at about 2:30pm after concluding a sit-in programme on the ninth consecutive day of the indefinite strike.
Janak Kanu, a labour leader at the Bhabani Tea Garden, alleged that the garden owners were forcing them to take a hard line.
Earlier on July 22, the agitated workers staged a blockade programme on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway at Rokanpur Bazar in Nabiganj upazila, protesting against the tea garden owners’ trickery that left thousands of vehicles stranded at both ends of the highway.
The five-point demands include payment of their due wages and festival allowances, reimbursement of the provident fund, ensuring their house rent and medical allowances.
The workers of the two gardens alleged that the leaseholders did not make any effort to disburse their arrears worth Tk 81.59 lakh and festival allowance of Tk 14.47 lakh that remained unpaid since FY19.
The garden authorities did not pay their wages of the past week forcing them to go for strike, they claimed.
