SREEMANGAL — After a gruelling 40-day strike that stilled the clippers across 168 gardens, tea workers have won an 18% wage hike, raising daily pay to Tk 210 along with guaranteed festival bonuses and six-month maternity leave.
Women pluckers — who form 75% of the workforce and pick 25kg of leaf daily in leech-infested rows — celebrated by beating drums at the Malnicherra gate. 'For 170 years our grandmothers plucked for pennies. Today our daughters will pluck with dignity,' said union leader Geeta Rani.
Garden owners, facing rising fertiliser costs, accepted the deal after government mediation and a promise of low-interest replanting loans. Labour economists called it 'the most significant plantation victory in decades'.
— Daily Best News Desk • Fearless in the search for truth
Reported by Sreemangal Correspondent • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
