Dhaka - (AFP) - About 150,000 workers in more than 200 tea-growing fields in Bangladesh went on strike Saturday to demand a 150% increase in salaries, which are the lowest in the world and do not exceed one dollar a day, according to researchers.

A worker in the tea fields in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country, earns about $1.25, according to official statistics.
One of the workers explained that the salary is barely enough to buy food.

"Today we do not have the possibility to buy rice for our family with this amount," said Anjana Boyhayan, 50.

"A day's salary does not make it possible to buy a liter of oil to eat. How can we, today and in this situation, think about our strength, about treatment and about studying our children?" she told AFP.

The unions are calling for an increase in salaries to reach the level of 300 taka for a working day, as inflation continues to rise and the value of the local currency continues to decline.

The strike began on Saturday in 232 tea fields, after the workers stopped working for two hours during the previous four days.

"About 150,000 workers in the tea sector have joined the strike today," said Sitaram Bean, a member of the Bangladesh Tea Workers' Union.

"No tea leaf will be picked and no one will work in the conversion plants unless the authorities respond to our demands," he told AFP.

Researchers assert that workers who are active in the tea-growing sector and live in poor areas of the country have been exploited for decades.
"Tea farmers are modern-day slaves," says Phillip Gaine, director of the Society for Environment and Human Development research group.