News Desk : dhakamirror.com
Yesterday, a government-convened meeting to consider raising the pay of workers in tea gardens came to an end without making a decision.
At the Sreemangal office in Moulvibazar, the Department of Labor held a day-long meeting with tea gardens employee yesterday.
The department will have another meeting with both workers and tea garden owners today at the department’s head office in Dhaka because the officials and workers were unable to reach an agreement regarding the salary increase.
“In today’s (yesterday) meeting, I heard problems and demand of workers. Then I requested the workers to resume work. At the same time, we assured them that we will continue discussions with owners about the wage hike. But the workers did not agree,” said Khaled Mamun Chowdhury, director general of the Department of Labour.
“We will hold another tripartite meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4:00pm in Dhaka,” he told this correspondent last evening.
The workers, however, are adamant that they won’t resume working until their demand is fulfilled.
“We will resume work only after our demands are fulfilled,” said Nipen Paul, acting general secretary of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union.
Workers at 166 tea farms countrywide, including those in Chattogram and Sylhet, have been refusingto work demanding a wage increase on the daily basis from the current Tk 120 to Tk 300, Since August 13.
