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A worker at a tea estate in Srimangal in Bangladesh's Moulvibazar district. Despite a production boom, tea workers live a life of misery due to poor wages and denial of basic rights. (Photo: Stephan Uttom/UCA News)
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"This is our ancestral profession and we have no vocational
skills. That's why we have been stuck here for more than 150 years," he
told UCA News.
Sabuj, 43, a lower-caste Hindu from Tanti community, is the
fifth generation of tea workers from his family. Yet this father of four
daughters wants all his children to get out of the tea estate. Three of his
daughters, except the youngest of two-and-half years-old, go to school.
"I don't want my daughters to become tea workers like me. I
want them to get an education and have a better life. I didn't have the
opportunity to get an education, so I have been stuck in the tea estate
forever," he said.
"The tea community could have a future if the workers had
rights to the land they have lived on for generations and trees they have
planted over the years. They could have a life of dignity, but in reality we
are still denied basic freedom, we are subjects of the estate owners. It is
nothing but slavery," he lamented.
Sabuj is the head of a 14-member extended family that includes
five members of his younger brother's family and their elderly mother. He and
his brothers are registered workers in the estate.
The family lives in three mud-walled, thatched houses provided
by the company in an estate village called a "labor line" or
"slum line."
As a registered worker, Sabuj gets a daily wage of 102 taka
(US$1.22) and three kilograms of weekly food ration (rice or wheat). He gets
one day of earned leave after every 20 days of work and is entitled to a daily
wage for 20 days maximum if he is sick.
There is no school in the estate, so the children walk several
kilometers to attend government schools. "I am very happy that my
daughters are doing well in their schools. I believe they will have great
future," he said.
The poor and miserable life of tea workers denies them dignity
like other citizens of Bangladesh and the most crucial barrier is the
"mindset of owners," he said.
"The British treated us as subjects. We have passed through
the Pakistan period and now we are in independent Bangladesh. Today most
planters are Bangladeshis, but their mindset remains the same. Masters have
changed but we continue to remain their subjects," he added.
A life full of miseries
The life and struggles of Sabuj reflect the misery of thousands
of workers who keep Bangladesh's tea industry running.
There are about 98,000 registered workers and 30,000 seasonal
workers in the industry. The total number of tea workers and their families is
an estimated 700,000, according to trade union leaders.
Most tea workers are lower-caste Hindus and some are indigenous
peoples, brought in by the British planters during the days of the Raj.
A Bangladeshi tea worker's daily wage is the lowest in the
world. Registered workers are allowed live in housing provided by the company,
but they have no claim on the land despite living there for generations. A
worker and their family can live there as long as a member has a job in the
estate.
Rights activists say tea workers are among the poorest and most
marginalized communities in the country, noting that their miserable lives with
low pay and poor fringe benefits can be compared to modern-day slavery.
"One kilogram of onions costs more than what a tea worker
gets as a daily wage. This small example is enough to highlight the endless
misery and discrimination they have been facing for more one and a half
centuries," Ponkoj Kondo, an ethnic Kondo Catholic and vice-president of
the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, told UCA News.
Despite labor laws stipulating the requirement for facilities
such as good housing, health, education and gratuity, in reality these are
non-existent, he said.
"Most estates have no school as the tea planters indirectly
discourage education and other vocational skills, fearing the next generation
might abandon this traditional profession," he added.
For 34 years until 2010, a group of pro-planter leaders
dominated the union and remained silent about the rights of workers for
economic and non-economic dividends, Kondo said.
"In 2010, a group of pro-worker leaders came to power and
started negotiating with the owners over rights including a wage rise. But we
have limitations and weaknesses because the owners are financially and
politically influential, so they can convince the government to serve their
interests better than those of the workers."
Production boom changes nothing
Production boom changes nothing
Tea plantations in the former East Bengal (now Bangladesh)
started in 1854 during the days of British rule and most of the planters were
British.
Bangladesh has 167 tea estates, most of them concentrated in
Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj and Sunamganj districts that make up the Sylhet
division, known as Bangladesh's tea plantation hub.
Today, only two companies bear the British legacy — Finley, and
Duncan Brothers. The name of James Finley only exists in the brand, while
Duncan still has British connections and investments.
During the British and Pakistan periods, tea was a major export,
but production fell gradually in independent Bangladesh while local demand rose
drastically. The country started importing tea in 2010 to meet demand.
However, recent years have seen a surge in production. In 2016,
total tea production was 85 million kilograms, the highest since the beginning
of tea plantation in Sylhet. In 2019, production even surpassed the previous
record, when the nation produced 90.60 million kilograms of tea, the highest in
166 years, according to data from the state-run Bangladesh Tea Board.
According to the London-based International Tea Committee, China
is world's biggest producer of tea, followed by India and Bangladesh, which
ranks ninth.
There were various driving factors behind the boom in tea
production, according to M. Shah Alam, chairman of the Bangladesh Tea
Association, the organization representing estate owners.
"Credit goes to new investments and extension of plantation
areas in recent years. Many companies have uprooted old tea plants and replaced
them with new ones. Also, modern equipment has been installed in factories to
reduce production time. Besides, the weather has been relatively better,"
Alam, managing director of Duncan Brothers, one of the largest tea companies
with 16 estates and 20,000 workers, told UCA News.
However, he complained that due to record production, the price
of tea has fallen.
"We are happy to have a production boom, but we are worried
that the market price of tea has fallen due to surplus production and the
influx of tea from India. Last year, we had large amount of left unsold, so we
couldn't make a profit. If this continues this year, we will incur
losses," Alam said.
He denied allegations that tea workers are exploited.
"What tea workers get is as per the labor law and the
agreement with the trade union. If we combine pay and various benefits such as
housing, rations and medical, the salary becomes double. In many estates, both
husband and wife work, so their income is much more," he said.
He claimed that certain vested parties, including a section of
media, have painted a negative picture of the tea industry.
"Over the years, many tea workers have become educated and
well established, which means the community is in good condition," he
added.
Top officials at the Bangladesh Tea Board declined to comment
when UCA News contacted them to find out what the government has been doing to
protect the rights of tea workers.
Meanwhile, workers like Sabuj Tanti pass their days in misery,
but not without dreaming.
"All tea workers have a dream — one day they will get their
land rights, their children will get an education, get good jobs at home and
abroad, and they will become truly independent and self-sufficient," he
said.
END
Original Articles:
UCAN- Bangladesh tea workers: A legacy of neglect and servitudeLCI- Bangladesh tea workers: A legacy of neglect and servitude
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