Fix daily wage at Tk 260: speakers
Speakers at a roundtable yesterday demanded establishing the country’s tea garden workers’ rights, including fixing Tk 260 as the minimum daily wage along with free accommodation and medical treatment facility.
Mentioning that the current minimum wage is only Tk 99, they said the workers are also being deprived of their rights, as the government is not adequately monitoring the implementation of Bangladesh Labour Law Service Rules-2015.
Rights activists, NGO officials and tea labourers’ leaders were speaking at a roundtable on “Tea garden workers’ rights and social protection: present situation and way forward” at The Daily Star Centre in the capital.
Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS), a labour rights platform, organised the discussion with support from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), a German political foundation.
In his keynote presentation, Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union’s chief advisor Tapan Datte alleged that the rights of over 1 lakh tea garden workers have not been established yet, despite their inclusion in Labour Law-2006.
“Government should take initiatives to protect tea workers’ rights, including fixing minimum daily wage at Tk 260, accessible and clean sanitation for women workers, adequate medical treatment with ambulance facilities, quota for the workers’ children and transportation system inside the garden,” he demanded.
Welcoming the wage board formation to review the minimum wage, he urged the government to eliminate all other disparities so that the workers can lead a decent life with their families.
“Without improving workers’ living standard, the goal to become middle income country cannot be achieved,” he said.
In his speech, Jubilee Valley tea workers’ union president Kamal Banerjee alleged that they have to use CNG-run auto-rickshaw to take ill persons, and even pregnant women, to the hospital.
“This is a pathetic situation. It’s the state’s duty to implement constitutional rights of people from all walks of life,” he said.
He alleged that tea garden owners “do whatever they want” and no one protests due to fear of losing their job.
Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union general secretary Ramvajon Koiri demanded permanent residential facilities for tea workers. “The workers’ children have been deprived of primary education due to lack of schools near their residence,” he claimed.
“Due to unhealthy and insufficient amount of food, 47 percent children of tea garden workers are underweight,” he said.
Society for Health Extension and Development (SHED) Director Philip Gain said tea workers are still victims of discrimination, just as they had been during British rule.
BILS vice chairperson Anwar Hossain presided over the discussion.
Meanwhile, Md Shah Alam, president of Bangladesh Tea Association, told The Daily Star that they give the workers many facilities, which people don’t talk about.
“Despite many crises and difficulties in the tea industry, we give them rice for only Tk 2 per kg, free medical treatment, residential facilities, allowance after retirement and even give jobs to their children,” he claimed.
He said that tea garden owners and trade union leaders jointly fix the wages every two years following a consultation between both groups.
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