Workers at four tea gardens in Chunarughat upazila of Habiganj are staging work stoppages and protests for the third consecutive day over unpaid weekly wages, pushing home their one-point demand – no work under current owners.

Workers allege they have not received their wages for the past three weeks. 

Although contributions to the provident fund have been deducted for the last three years, the money has not actually been deposited into the fund, they claimed. 

Furthermore, each worker is owed 4,000 taka in outstanding payments from 2023.

A protest and discussion meeting was held in front of the temple at Lalchand Tea Garden in Chunarughat upazila on Wednesday afternoon regarding these. 

The meeting, chaired by Lal Santal, was attended by workers from Lalchand, Deundi, Gilani and Noapara tea gardens.

The workers held a protest rally to press home their demands and called for a swift resolution to the problem. 

Labour leaders warned that they would intensify their movement and, if necessary, besiege the Secretariat if their demands were not met.

Speakers at the rally included Apon Santal, president of the panchayat committee at Deundi Tea Garden; Comet Nayek, president of the panchayat committee at Noapara Tea Garden; UP member Dulal Ghosh; Kartik Bakti; Laxmikanta Roy; and Deundi Tea Garden labour leader Ujjal Kumar Das.

Labour leaders said they had been forced to suspend work because the wage dispute remained unresolved. 

Expressing no confidence in the current owners, they said they had a single demand: they no longer wanted the current owners. 

The work stoppage would continue until their demand was met, they added.

The labour leaders also announced that they would hold a human chain in front of the Habiganj Deputy Commissioner's Office next Sunday. They would subsequently submit a memorandum to the deputy commissioner outlining their demands.

Asked about the matter, Habiganj Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Dr GM Sarfaraz said he had heard that the workers were observing a work stoppage.

“The owners should pay their outstanding wages and ensure salaries are paid on time. If they submit a memorandum to us, we will forward it to the relevant authorities,” he said.