Wage delays deepen crisis for struggling tea workers

Shahariar Islam Sovon & S A Shofiee (Sylhet Bureau) :

Tea workers across Bangladesh are grappling with severe financial uncertainty as they continue to face irregular wage payments and harsh working conditions. Despite promises of wage increases and better benefits, thousands of workers are being deprived of their basic rights, leaving their livelihoods in jeopardy.

Marking the recently concluded Durga Puja, a partial payment was done which brought temporary relief for the workers, but the core issues of unpaid wages and exploitation remain unresolved, trapping these workers in a cycle of economic and social uncertainty.

For nearly seven weeks, more than 12,000 tea workers in 12 tea gardens under the National Tea Company Limited (NTC) have been living in anxiety about the payment of their wages.

After they were paid Tk 595 on August 12, which is half of the weekly payment, the payment was halted till September 25, the day they were paid another instalment of the same amount. This is pretty bad for these workers as the Durga Puja festivities are set to begin on October 9. Thankfully, they have not stopped work and production.

With Durga Puja just around the corner, most of the workers of the tea garden in various districts have found a temporary sense of relief as they received a portion of their wages along with a bonus. However, their primary demand for the full payment of their outstanding wages remains unmet, and the workers question how long they can continue like this, with wages unpaid for months.

Our Correspondent claimed that the Phultala Tea Garden, owned by The New Sylhet Tea Estates Limited, had suspended operations on August 28, 2024, leaving workers without wages for over three months. This decision was made without any consultation with the labor force.

Protests erupted, and it was only after intervention by the district administration, military, and police that the tea garden resumed operations. The garden’s owner, Md. Rafique, lives in London, and has been largely absent from the daily management.

Moulvibazar’s Deputy Commissioner, Md. Israil Hossain, told The New Nation, “When we couldn’t get in touch with the management, we formed a committee led by the UNO (Upazila Nirbahi Officer) that included the AC Land and local police officers.

We made it clear that the garden must continue running and the wages must be paid. We instructed the management to provide bonuses and a portion of the wages before Durga Puja, which they complied with. We hope the remaining dues will be cleared soon.”

The Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union Organising Secretary Raju Gowala told The New Nation that, if the workers received even 80 per cent of the benefits they are supposed to get, their lives would improve significantly. Right now, they are receiving less than 50 per cent. We are fighting to change their lives.”

According to Shihab Uddin, the acting manager of the Phultala Tea Garden, the financial difficulties have been caused by a lack of funds from the bank. “Our owner used to visit regularly before the pandemic, but now he only comes occasionally. We are facing a financial crisis and haven’t been able to secure funds from the bank.

Despite that, we distributed over Tk 1.25 crore in bonuses, with each worker receiving between Tk 5,000 and Tk 7,000. Additionally, we disbursed a week’s worth of wages, totaling around Tk 20 lakh. However, around Tk 9-10 crore is still pending,” Shihab Uddin explained.

Earlier, workers were earning Tk 120 per day. In August 2023, after intense protests and negotiations, the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina intervened, increasing their daily wage by Tk 50 to Tk 170. The decision was made after a nearly three-hour meeting between the Bangladesh Tea Association’s 10-member delegation and the Prime Minister.

The issue of unpaid wages continues to affect the workers, many of whom have lived and worked in the gardens for generations without ownership of the land. Their daily quota requires them to pluck at least 23 kilograms of tea leaves or trim at least 250 bushes in a day during pruning season. For pesticide application, the workers are tasked with covering at least 1 acre of land daily.

The official further revealed that 79 tea gardens are in terrible shape. These gardens have not made their due contributions to the Provident Fund (PF) for months. Gas and power lines have been cut off in a number of the gardens for not paying the bills. Many of them are selling green tea leaves to other tea gardens for processing as their own factories are not running, according to Our Correspondent.

While Labor Day is celebrated every year with great fanfare, the lives of tea garden workers remain confined within the boundaries of the gardens, with little hope for change. Despite promises made during wage negotiations, including a pledge in 2020 to raise wages to Tk 300 per day, the tea garden workers are yet to see those promises fulfilled.

Tea cultivation in Bangladesh began in 1854, with the first tea garden established in Sylhet’s Malnichhara. Today, the country has 167 tea gardens, mostly located in Sylhet, Habiganj, and Moulvibazar, employing around 140,000 workers. As the wage crisis continues, the struggle for fair compensation and better working conditions remains a pressing issue for these workers.