TEA workers, the most exploited section of the labour force, in Moulavibazar have taken to the streets, demanding their unpaid wages. About 1,500 workers of the state-owned National Tea Company Ltd on September 6 rallied demanding their wages unpaid for three weeks. Workers at the rally said that their families were starving as the company has also suspended their ration and access to treatment. Workers also complained that the health centres do not have medicines. In addition, for 15 months, access to their provident fund has also been restricted. While tea worker leaders said that they would go for tougher programmes unless arrears were immediately paid, the management of the state-owned company said the administrative vacuum created following the dissolution of the board of directors is why they could not pay wages. The management, however, is uncertain when the board will be reconstituted. Denying workers due wages for bureaucratic reasons for weeks is unacceptable and the government should take action to resolve the crisis.

The irregular payment of wages and employment benefits is, rather, characteristic of the tea industry. Earlier in March, tea workers of Kuchai tea garden in Moulvibazar abstained from work over the announcement of reduced festival allowance. In July 2023, workers at Imam and Bhabani Tea Garden went on strike with five-point demands that included the payment of their wages and festival allowance, the reimbursement of the provident fund and ensuring their house rent and medical allowances. Besides, Tk 170 in daily wages for tea workers is inadequate amidst unprecedented food inflation. There are loopholes in laws and regulations that allow garden owners to make such arbitrary decisions and withhold worker’s festival allowance or severance payment. Tea workers do not receive 5 per cent of the net profit of the previous year of the company they work for, as specified by the Labour Act and the Workers’ Welfare Foundation Act. Rarely are any actions taken by the authorities against such gross violation of the labour law. Such denial and non-payment of legally entitled dues have become part of the culture in tea gardens.

The government must, therefore, take initiatives to protect rights of tea garden workers. It must take immediate steps to reconstitute the board of directors for the state-owned tea garden and end the economic hardship of tea workers in Moulavibazar. The labour law must be revisited to ensure that tea garden workers have the right to negotiate their minimum wage and employment benefits and garden owners cannot make an arbitrary decision to deny or withhold festival allowance or severance payment. In doing so, it must scrap the colonial protocols that shield the tea garden owners and allow them to exploit workers. The labour ministry must take steps to ensure effective monitoring of tea gardens so that labour rights are not violated.