Rangpur female labourers victim of wage disparity

RANGPUR, Feb 16:  Female labourers in Rangpur district are being deprived of equal rights as they get much less wage than their male counterparts for the same sort of work.

A good number of women in the region work in crop fields, brick kilns, husking  mills, restaurants, factories, tobacco processing centres, hotels and construction sites and  are also engaged in earth cutting, stone chips and breaking brick as day labourers. But all of them are given less wages than their male labourers.   

While visiting  many areas in different upazilas under the district, this correspondent recently found that a male labourer is paid Tk 150 to Tk 250 after rendering day long services, while a female labourer gets Tk 75 to Tk 120 for the same volume and type of work.

Asked about the reason of such wage inequality, Motin Miah, a land owner of Fulchouki area at Mithapukur Upazila, said "Though the female workers are more honest to work than the male workers, they get less wage, as the male labourers are able to carry more workload than that of the females", he added.

Talking to this FE correspondent, some female day labourers who are victim of discrimination narrated the pathetic stories of their frustration and deprivation at workplaces.

Kajoli (45), a female worker at a tobacco leaf processing centre under British Amerian Tobacco Company Bangladesh Ltd in Gangarchhara Upazila in the district told The Financial Express she works at least 8 to 9 hours a day but gets only Tk 75 whereas a male worker gets Tk 150 for the same amount and type of work. They often fall sick due to toxic dust of tobacco. Many of them are suffering from various respiratory diseases, said some workers of the tobacco processing centre.  

A number of female labourer alleged if they claim wages as much as their male counterparts get, the employers become reluctant to engage them in work next time. For this reason they are compelled to receive much lower wages, they added.