Nearly 150,000 workers from more than 200 tea plantations in Bangladesh went on strike on Saturday. They are demanding a 150% increase in their $1-a-day wage, one of the lowest in the world, according to researchers.
Most tea plantation workers in Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country, are lower-caste Hindus whose ancestors were brought to these farms by British colonial-era planters.
The minimum wage for a tea plantation worker in the country is 120 taka a day – around $1.25 at official rates, but just over a dollar on the open market.
Modern day slaves
A worker explained that this was barely enough to buy food, let alone other necessities.
Unions are demanding a wage increase to 300 takas a day in the face of rampant inflation and currency depreciation. Workers at 232 tea plantations began a full-scale strike on Saturday following carrying out two-hour work stoppages for four days.
“Tea workers are sort of modern-day slaves,” observed Philip Gain, director of the research group “Society for Environment and Human Development”, author of several books on these workers.
Tea workers are kind of modern-day slaves
Philip Gaindirector of the research group “Society for Environment and Human Development”.
