Tea workers in Sylhet brought out a torch procession in Lakkatura in Sylhet to press home their five-point demand, including clearance of their dues for three months. The workers under the banner of Bangladesh Tea Worker Federation and Tea Garden Education Right Implementation Council jointly brought out a torch procession from Lakkatura Rest Camp Bazar on Monday evening which ended at the same point after parading the important roads including Airport Road. Tea Workers in Sylhet stage protest demanding overdue wages The demands include—payment of the dues of the workers under National Tea Corporation and resumption of the production of the tea garden closed earlier, to fix Tk 500 as daily wages for the tea workers, cancellation of all discriminatory sections from the labour law, stop introducing projects at tea gardens and ensure land rights and steps for Bangladesh Tea Workers Union Election, immediately. Leaders and workers from Bangladesh Tea Workers Federation, Sylhet spoke at the meeting. The speakers said the tea workers did not receive their wages for the past three months and after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5, seven directors including Sheikh Kabir stepped down from NTC. Tea workers strike in Sylhet over payment of arrears Kabir was the chief of 23 organisations abusing his power and different allegations including looting were brought against him, they said. After the fall of the government, the respective banks failed to provide loans, leaving the disbursement of the wages and ration of the workers in uncertainty. Tea workers in Sylhet have been staging demonstrations for the past several days demanding clearing of their outstanding dues.  

Tea garden workers in Sylhet began returning to work even on their weekly holiday, Sunday ending 19 days of strike after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped in to increase their daily wages to Tk 170 to 120. The new date was announced on Saturday night after the prime minister’s meeting with the tea estate owners to discuss the workers’ demand to raise their daily pay to Tk 300. Though most of the tea gardens were closed due to the weekly holiday, workers of a number of tea gardens were seen joining their work in the morning. During visits to Malinichhara and Daldoli tea gardens, this UNB correspondent found the workers upbeat and happy over the pay hike. Many of them expressed their gratitude to PM Hasina for her intervention.   Raju Goala, president of Tea Workers Union in Sylhet Valley, said “Most of the workers joined their work while some workers stayed home for weekend holiday. They are expected to join their work from Monday.” Nripen Pal, acting general secretary of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, said “The tea workers have accepted the daily wages fixed by the prime minister.” Also read: Tea workers' wages raised to Tk170 a day after meeting with PM