Can tea workers be included in reform talks?
If the current daily wage at Tk170 per day surprises you, it’s worth remembering that the wage was even lower only a year ago. As we continue our talks on reforms, can it include the country’s tea workers?
After Hasina's ouster on 5 August, top officials from different institutions resigned and fled. They were once integral to Hasina's political machinery. Now the institutions are undergoing an overhaul.
NTCL (National Tea Company Limited) has also been impacted by this wheel of change.
Sheikh Kabir Hossain, a relative of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was appointed chairman of National Tea Company Limited in 2019. After the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League regime, many, including Kabir, have resigned.
This has disrupted the salary processes for the labourers.
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Sabita Bauri is a female tea worker at the Patrakhola tea garden in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar. For the past one and a half months, she hasn't received her wages –Tk170 per day – despite working regularly. She has no food at home and no money in hand.
More than 12,000 tea workers like her work in the 16 tea estates under the state-owned company who are their families' breadwinners.
Additionally, a large portion of the workers follow the Sanatan religion and Durga Puja – their biggest annual festival – is approaching. It's still uncertain if their due wages will be paid before the occasion, let alone if a festival bonus will come their way.
Meanwhile, another group of tea workers in Sreemangal held a protest march and rally on 29 September, with a three-point demand, including the call for a daily wage of Tk500.
The dire and ever-lasting working conditions of tea workers remain unresolved for over a century. While wage reviews for other labour groups, such as RMG workers, are in motion and rightfully so; tea workers remain overlooked.
The characteristics of modern-day slavery
The daily wage of a tea worker is Tk170 in today's high-inflation market.
There are currently 168 commercial tea gardens in the country. The total number of workers is approximately 1,40,000 — meaning, including their families, 5 lakh people are directly dependent on the tea industry.
Mohammad Nazmul Avi Hossain, a labour economist, considers it 'modern-day slavery.' He said, "Tea workers work for more than eight hours a day. They often do overtime. But they are paid so little.
The amount even falls short of the upper middle-income class poverty line, as defined by the World Bank. It's a form of labour exploitation of the marginal and vulnerable people."
The way forward
'Collective bargaining' is the key tool of wage setting in labour economics. However, it doesn't work in this case.
It's true that a bilateral agreement between the Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA) and the Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union (BCSU) is meant to occur every two years, with wages being determined through this process. But, there's politics at play.
Mohammad Nazmul Avi Hossain highlighted the necessity of implementing the National Wage Policy. At the end of last year, it was announced for the first time in the country, in order to establish a set standard for determining workers' wages. But there's a catch. The tea industry has to be added to the National Minimum Wage Board first.
The agreement is largely dominated by the owners' side. Consequently, the 'wage bargaining' process bears no fruit and remains ineffective.
One reason for that is the BCSU's weak leadership.
The last election was held in 2018. Though the committee should be valid for three years as per constitution, the current committee members have been in power for six consecutive years.
Elections are not being organised reportedly due to a lack of funds. The previous Awami League government also showed disinterest in funding it as they backed the owners' side.
Hossain suggested that the government's Labour Ministry should play a neutral anchor role in the bargaining process between the workers and the owners.
"There must be a contract signed between the employer and employee. But in the tea sector, it doesn't happen. However, unlike other informal sectors, the tea industry is export-oriented, and the majority of the labourers are permanent employees," he said, adding "Tea workers are not provided with employment letters [a violation of Sector 5 of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006]."
Hossain also highlighted the necessity of implementing the National Wage Policy. At the end of last year, it was announced for the first time in the country, in order to establish a set standard for determining workers' wages. Once implemented, factors such as inflation, family expenses and the capacity of the organisation will be considered when determining wages.
But there's a catch. The tea industry has to be added to the National Minimum Wage Board first, which currently covers 44 sectors. Then the wage policy will be effective for tea workers when implemented.
Tale of a century-long suffering
Tea workers' tragic story of exploitation dates back to the beginning of the tea industry itself.
Commercial tea cultivation in the Bangladesh region of British India first began in the Malnichara Tea Estate in Sylhet in 1854. Labourers were brought to this region by British companies from different parts of India, such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and other states, with false promises of a better future.
In reality, they endured inhumane working conditions and mistreatment by the garden owners and managers.
Tea workers started protesting.
On 20 May 1921, thousands of tea workers set off for their homeland leaving their workplaces, with the slogan of 'Mulluk Cholo,' meaning 'return to homeland' – this later came to be known as the historic Mulluk Cholo movement.
But the struggle for fair wages and a dignified life continues even today.
If the current daily wage surprises you, it's worth remembering that the wage was even lower only a year ago.
Nearly 150,000 workers protested (initially they observed a two-hour work stoppage every day but later escalated to an indefinite strike) demanding a raise in their daily wages from Tk120 to Tk300 in August 2022.
Then, at one point, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set the wage at Tk170. But it took a year to become effective. On 10 August 2023, a gazette was issued setting this daily wage rate.
A section of the gazette also declared an annual wage increase of 5% amounting to only Tk8.5 – perhaps nothing more than a mockery of a marginalised community who have limited agency.
This increase is lower than the inflation rate. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, the general inflation rate was 10.49% in August this year. So, in terms of purchasing power, their wages are actually decreasing.
Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA) is the only representative body of all tea estates of the Greater Sylhet and Chattogram districts.
"People only talk about their wages. No one mentions the housing, rations and various other allowance benefits they receive," GM Shiblee, the Chairman of BTA's Sylhet Branch, told The Business Standard.
He added, "In some places, owners are even selling at a loss. We need to consider their side as well. The business can't survive like this."
But Section 2(45) of the Labour Act clearly states that housing, electricity, water, medical care, retirement benefits, or money the employer puts into a provident fund are not part of a worker's wages.
Today, we continue to talk about state reform over cups of tea. The question is when can we reform the lives of the people who bring us the tea leaves.
