Tea workers to see two-thirds of arrears axed

The country’s tea workers have been getting their full wage arrears for 50 years, but it is going to be reduced by around two-thirds this time.

Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union (BCSU) and sector analysts say each worker is entitled to get Tk 30,000 in total arrears for 20 months from January 2021 to August 2022. But on Wednesday, State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian announced that each worker would be paid Tk 11,000.

Her announcement was revealed in a circular on Wednesday night, which was signed by Director General of the Department of Labour Khaled Mamun Chowdhury.

The circular said the state minister met representatives of the tea garden owners’ body Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA) and the BCSU earlier on that day.

After the meeting, Monnujan announced each worker would be paid Tk 11,000 in arrears in three instalments.

She said owners would have to pay the first instalment before March 7 while the remaining two would be scheduled after discussions with owners and workers.

On August 28 last year, following tea workers’ protests demanding a daily wage of Tk 300, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set it at Tk 170, up from Tk 120 earlier.

The previous wage agreement, which fixed the amount at Tk 120 per day, was in effect from January 2019 to December 2020. In line with the prime minister’s announcement, workers have been getting a daily wage of Tk 170 from September 2022.

This means they will get arrears for the intervening 20 months. However, the deal for the current wage structure has not been inked yet.

Workers have been getting the full arrears in instalments for the last 50 years, Poresh Kalindi, treasurer of BCSU, told The Business Post.

“But for the first time, owners have declined to pay arrears, though several meetings have been held to resolve the matter. We then went to the state minister to urge her to collect our arrears from owners on our behalf,” he said.

“After that, the state minister talked to owners and announced Tk 11,000 for each worker. We, the union leaders and all general workers, are frustrated with the cut in our arrears,” he also said.

“As we cannot take issue with the state minister, we have to accept the decision against our will,” Poresh added.

Around 1.03 lakh permanent tea workers at 167 tea estates and gardens across Bangladesh are entitled to arrears.

M Shah Alam, chairman of BTA, told The Business Post owners are not supposed to pay arrears.

“But as we paid it previously and workers went to the state minister this time, we have agreed on the amount set by her [Monnujan],” Alam, also a director of Duncan Brothers (Bangladesh), said.

“Most gardens are incurring losses. At the moment, it is difficult to keep the tea industry alive,” he added.

Traditionally, BTA signs a two-year agreement with BCSU to set workers’ wages. A new agreement is usually signed a long time after the previous one expires.

Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD) Director Philip Gain told The Business Post there is no doubt that this is an injustice.

“Workers accepted the Tk 170 daily wage by honouring the prime minister’s decision last year. They also believed they would get the full arrears. Now they are deprived of both their expected wages and arrears,” he said.

Wednesday’s circular shows how helpless workers are, he added.

SEHD is a non-governmental organisation that has been intensively working on matters related to tea gardens and workers as well as the country’s marginal communities for years.

The director general of the labour department could not be reached for comments. Muhammad Nasir Uddin, director of trade unions, training and arbitration at the department, told The Business Post on Thursday that workers would be paid Tk 11,000 in arrears.

There are 167 tea estates and gardens covering 2.79 lakh acres of land in the country. Of them, 129 are tea estates and 38 are recognised as gardens.

Of the estates, 76 are in Moulvibazar, 22 in Habiganj, 18 in Chattogram, 12 in Sylhet, and one in Rangamati.

On the other hand, there are 15 gardens in Moulvibazar, seven in Sylhet, eight in Panchagarh, three each in Chattogram and Habiganj, and one each in Rangamati and Thakurgaon.