End the exploitation of tea workers in Bangladesh and repair the industry

Mon. October 7, 2024 08:00 Last update: Mon. October 7, 2024 08:00

Tea workers from the Bawani tea garden in Habiganj carrying heads with green tea leaves, August 26, 2024. PHOTO: PHILIP GAIN

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Tea workers from the Bawani tea garden in Habiganj carrying heads with green tea leaves, August 26, 2024. PHOTO: PHILIP GAIN

For almost seven weeks, over 12,000 tea workers in 12 tea estates owned by the National Tea Company Limited (NTC) have been living in anxiety over the payment of wages. After they were paid Tk 595 on August 12, which was half of their weekly salary, the payment was stopped until September 25, when they were paid another installment of the same amount. This is quite a bad situation for these workers as the Durga Puja celebrations will begin on October 9. Fortunately, they did not stop work and production.

However, to put pressure on the management, tea shop workers blocked shipments of prepared tea from garden warehouses. After negotiations with the board and relevant state agencies, they allowed the release on October 1 of two consignments from Patrokhola Tea Estate in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar, NTC’s largest tea garden, and one consignment from each of 11 other tea gardens. In return, they received a week’s salary on the same day, confirmed Shipon Chakraborty, president of the Patrokhola Panchayat. The deal is that these workers will release more consignments from the warehouses once the NTC management clears dues and bonuses before Durga Puja.

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What we see in the NTC gardens is poor management. NTC is a public limited company incorporated in 1978 under the Companies Act, 1913. The government holds 51 percent of the shares, of which 49 percent is publicly traded on the Dhaka and Chattogram stock exchanges. Of the 12 tea gardens, seven are in Moulvibazar, four in Habiganj and one in Sylhet.

The management of the NTC, which is the responsibility of the government, is tainted by politics. The tea gardens, taken over by the government after independence, are located in a good topographic zone but are performing very poorly. According to news reports, between July and December 2023, the company recorded a net loss of Tk 26.66 crore. The company’s poor management of the tea gardens is reflected, among other things, in the appearance of the gardens: tea plants are rare and there are not enough shade trees. The company’s problems deepened since a sudden political change on August 5, as a result of which the company’s chairman Sheikh Kabir Hossain, reportedly a relative of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, disappeared and the board almost collapsed.

Tea workers and their lone union Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union (BCSU) are trying to negotiate with the NTC management. Half-fed or with empty stomachs, these workers showed patience and worked regularly in the hope that management would keep their word and pay them all the salary and bonus they were owed before Durga Puja, the largest Hindu festival in Bangladesh.

However, NTC currently faces many insurmountable challenges. According to a top government official in charge of the tea gardens, he has a debt of Tk 380 crore to Bangladesh Krishi Bank. This year, the company had sought a loan of Tk 150 crore, but the bank only sanctioned an amount of Tk 86 crore, which was exhausted in July, a government official dealing with tea plantations said on condition of anonymity. Under the loan repayment agreement, auction house brokers transfer part of the bank’s proceeds from the sale directly to its account. The owners get their shares. However, workers have no choice but to block the supply of prepared tea.

While there are serious anomalies in the NTC gardens – which is typical of state-owned enterprises – there are other private companies and owners in this industry who are also struggling with problems of mismanagement and corruption that are pushing their employees into a deep crisis. A perfect example here is the Imam and Bawani tea plantations in Habiganj. A government official revealed that the Imam tea garden and its factory were completely shut down in October last year after a prolonged crisis. As a result, the responsibility of managing the Bawani estate was given to the Deputy Director of Labor (DDL) at Sreemangal. But DDL has difficulty managing the estate. The workers of these two gardens also suffer.

Another example of tea garden mismanagement is the Fultala tea garden in Juri upazila of Moulvibazar. Some 1,600 workers at this tea garden have not been paid for 12 weeks, a government official told me. The owner lives in London and has apparently closed the garden, although it is still in production to some extent due to the workers. With a bank loan of Tk 50 crore, the owner is in serious trouble, a government official revealed.

The official further revealed that 79 tea estates are in a terrible condition. These gardens have not paid due contributions to the Provident Fund (PF) for months. Gas and electricity lines were cut off in many gardens due to non-payment of bills. Many of them sell green tea leaves to other growers for processing because their own factories are not operational.

Tea workers busy at the Bawani tea shop in Habiganj, August 26, 2024. PHOTO: PHILIP GAIN

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Tea workers busy at the Bawani tea shop in Habiganj, August 26, 2024. PHOTO: PHILIP GAIN

Many tea garden owners say they are in trouble because the price of tea has dropped and production costs are rising. Indeed, the government has a policy of expanding tea-growing areas, which contributes to increased production.

Of course, there are examples of good companies that manage their gardens well, take good care of their employees within the existing framework and make good profits. One such company is Ispahani Tea Limited, which has four gardens. The best one is Zareen, located in Moulvibazar. According to management, average production per acre is approximately 1,600 kg, production per acre is 3,000 kg and production per acre across all four gardens averages approximately 2,500 kg. The price the company receives is good. Almost all the houses in the working class area of Zareen Tea Estate are puccas. The condition of houses in other Ispahani tea gardens is also much better than in other tea gardens. Ispahani management claims that employees receive better offers and other fringe benefits.

It is in the best interest of the Bangladeshi tea industry, not to mention the workers, that change takes place for the better. The caretaker government, which has committed to reforms to end discrimination and inequality, should consider paying immediate attention to the tea industry, which as a whole is in chaos. Tea garden workers, who number around 140,000, and their community of around half a million people, have faced severe discrimination for generations, since the industry’s beginnings in British colonial times.

Firstly, the tea industry, especially tea gardens, needs proper mapping. The good and bad gardens should be identified and the reasons behind recommendations for making necessary changes should be explained so that no tea garden goes unchecked for mismanagement, corruption and financial misappropriation. All parties involved in the tea industry must be scrutinized and held accountable.

Secondly, clear efforts must be made to ensure the welfare of tea plantation workers who are deprived of equal treatment and dignity as Bangladeshi citizens. The first step is to establish a fair and decent pay structure for these employees. The former prime minister fixed their daily cash salary at Tk 170 in August 2022, which is certainly not fair. She was allegedly targeted by the tea garden owners and her move was political in nature when the minimum wages commission failed. It is time for a major reform of the tea industry to ensure justice for tea workers.

Another concern for their well-being is discrimination in labor law and regulations applicable to them, as well as routine violations of several articles of labor law by owners, which cannot be justified in any way. While these anomalies have been exposed on various platforms, fresh consultations with tea workers, their unions and other stakeholders will certainly help in getting more details. The test for any government is whether the state agencies under the Minister of Labor responsible for enforcing labor laws and rules operate honestly.

Tea garden workers, most of whom are minorities, are largely invisible and voiceless. Wage deprivation and social exclusion during British colonialism have left them a vulnerable population, left behind in education and economic progress. Equal opportunities are not enough for them. They deserve preferential treatment to help them get out of their current state. The caretaker government has a big responsibility here.

Philip Gain is a researcher and director of the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD). He can be contacted at (email address protected).

The views expressed in this article are those of the author.

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