Nepali tea workers fail to get minimum salary

Nepali workers engaged in tea gardens have failed to get minimum salary fixed by tripartite agreement among the workers, garden owners and the government in September this year following 21-day strike carried out by the workers, state run Gorkhapatra daily reported in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Only 2,000 tea workers out of 46,500 are acquiring fixed minimum salary of 95 Nepali rupees (1.3 U.S. dollars) per day, the vernacular newspaper reported.

The garden owners have again started saying that they would be forced to close their gardens if they have to pay the agreed minimum salary.

The trade unions in the sector informed that more than 10,000 workers in the hilly region have been forced to work in less than one dollar a day.

Likewise, around 7,000 workers are getting around one dollar a day, according to them.

Source: Xinhua