Workers at the Tarapur Tea Plantation in Sylhet have gone on strike to demand back pay for two weeks of work and the third installment of arrears promised by the prime minister.

Sunil Modi, general secretary of the Tarapur Tea Plantation Panchayat Committee, said workers suspended work from 9 am to 2 pm and protested in front of the plantation’s office building.

“Due to the capriciousness of the authorities, salary payments have been delayed again and again,” he said. “Because of this, workers’ families are falling deeper into crisis. Without our pay, our Sankranti festival has been sapped of joy. We want an end to this deadlock.”

“We don’t want to repeatedly close tea gardens. But we are forced to protest due to deprivation.”

Chaitanya Modi, president of the Panchayat committee, said, “For two weeks, the tea garden workers have not received their salary. In addition, we are not getting the third installment of salary arrears announced by the prime minister. Having been deprived of our rights, we are protesting to get them back.”

The five other demands by workers are repairs to housing, provision of clean water in gardens, regular health care, the depositing of monthly retirement allowance with the labour union and payment of allowances to garden workers who died or retired within 90 days, Sunil Modi said.

“The tea gardens are our lives,” said worker Mamata Roy. “We don’t want them to stay closed. We haven’t gotten any salary or allowance for two weeks. People are starving in every home. We have been compelled to protest by the pain in our stomachs.”

In October 2022, about 150,000 workers at tea plantations across the country launched a movement demanding a hike in the daily wage from Tk 120 to Tk 300. They stopped work for three weeks to push for their demand.

On Aug 27, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina increased their daily wages by Tk 50, from Tk 120 to Tk 170. She also promised annual holidays, paid leave for festivals, and sick leave.

Workers continued their protests afterwards to demand increased wage arrears for the period from January 2021 to Aug 27, 2022.

The government later issued a circular that workers would get Tk 11,000 per person as arrears. The tea plantation authorities were ordered to pay that money in three installments.

Tarapur Tea Plantation Manager Rinku Chakrabarty told the media, “It is true that the workers have not received any pay for two weeks and that is why they have stopped work.”

The matter will be discussed at a meeting with the administration on Sunday evening, he said.

“I hope the problem will be resolved.”