After a nearly 3-month-long strike due to unpaid wages and various demands, workers from all 18 tea gardens of National Tea Company Ltd. (NTC) have decided to return to work on Thursday (December 5).
The decision was made during a joint meeting held on Sunday at the Labor Directorate office at Shreemangal upazila in Moulvibazar.
Representatives from the National Tea Company and the leadership of the tea workers' unions were present at the meeting.
Among those present were Syed Mahmud Hasan, Managing Director of NTC, GM Emadul Haque, DDL Nahidul Islam, and Nipen Pal, General Secretary of the Tea Workers' Union, along with former General Secretary Rambhajan Koiry and others.
Key decisions made during the meeting include:
1. On the first day of resuming work (December 5), workers will receive two weeks' overdue wages.
2. Monthly wage workers will be paid one month's salary.
3. From now on, wages will be paid regularly.
4. Garden workers will receive one month's salary by December 20.
5. No deductions will be made from the workers' rations for the days the garden was closed.
6. The days of closure will not be considered as absent when calculating bonuses or annual leave.
7. The remaining overdue wages will be cleared by March 2025.
8. Provident Fund dues will be paid by April 7, 2025.
These decisions were made after tea workers had been on strike for 12 weeks due to unpaid wages, which had paralyzed the government-controlled tea gardens. The workers had stopped all work in the 18 gardens of NTC, which had led to a standstill in operations.
Rambhajan Koiry, former General Secretary of the Bangladesh Tea Workers' Union, confirmed that following the agreements, tea workers have promised to return to work on December 5.
