Nearly 150,000 workers at more than 200 tea plantations in Bangladesh went on strike on Saturday. They demand a 150 percent increase in their wages of about 1 euro per day. The wages of the tea workers are among the lowest in the world.
Most of the workers on the tea plantations in Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country, are lower-caste Hindus whose ancestors were brought to the plantations by the colonial-era British.
Hardly enough
The minimum wage for a tea plantation worker in the country is 120 taka a day – about $1.25 on official exchange rates, but just over $1 (0.97) on the free market. One worker explained that this is barely enough to buy food, let alone provide for other necessities.
“Today we can’t even afford to buy brown rice for our family with this amount,” said 50-year-old Anjana Bhuyian.
Pay raise
The unions are demanding a wage increase of up to 300 taka a day in the face of soaring inflation and the devaluation of the currency. Workers at 232 tea estates launched a full-scale strike on Saturday, after four days of two-hour work stoppages.
“Nearly 150,000 (tea) workers have joined the strike today,” said Sitaram Bin, a member of the Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union. “No worker will pick tea leaves or work in the processing plants until the authorities comply with our demands,” he said.
Modern Slaves
The tea workers have been exploited by the industry for decades. “Tea workers are like modern slaves,” said Philip Gain, director of the Society for Environment and Human Development research group and author of several books on tea workers.
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