No matter how long and difficult the struggle or protest or how lonely a night spent studying for a big exam can be, there is always time for a refreshing cup of tea.
Tea has been the catalyst for everything Bangladeshis do, including our love life, the conversations we engage in, the stories we tell, the songs we sing, the revolutions we ignite, and the rebellions we wage. This is exactly why we idealize the image of the lone tea worker harvesting tea leaves in our commercials, for instance.
However, the image completely avoids depicting the grim reality of the labourers' lives on a Tk120 daily salary. Since they are spending their days in relative obscurity, eating smashed tea leaves with rice, little was known about them before they began their recent movement.
Workers in the state of Assam, which produces the most tea in India, now receive 217 rupees ($3) per day as their wage. The government of Sri Lanka has come to an agreement to raise the minimum daily salary for tea workers from 500 rupees to 700 rupees ($3.55).
For the workers in the Bangladesh tea industry, the situation seems to be static.
According to the International Tea Committee in London, Bangladesh is the ninth largest tea producer in the world. Recent years have seen a surge in production for our country, which resulted in 2019's record-breaking production of 90.6 million kilograms of tea. New investments, expanded plantations, and upgraded machinery were cited as the reasons for the upturn by respective companies.
It doesn't seem to matter how much more output there has been, however, as the workers’ living conditions and socioeconomic statuses remain unchanged. Workers in the tea industry are the epitome of modern-day slavery since they are denied basic human rights like a decent wage, access to education and healthcare, and much more.
Davidson (2015) contends that the current legal framework for modern slavery -- which includes inhumane working conditions, poor pay, and the widespread use of penalties to limit workers' agency and turn them into “willing slaves” -- makes such practices “morally acceptable.”
The British were instrumental in establishing Bangladesh's tea industry. In 1854, a commercial tea garden was established in Sylhet -- in order to staff the tea plantations, people from all over the South Asian sub-continent were brought in, mostly from the states of Bihar and Orissa, but also from the states of Madras, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. The majority of those who were targeted were weak, destitute, and often came from groups within low castes. Brokers lied to them about the employment market and the quality of life, luring them with the promise of a better life which ultimately did not materialize.
Not much has changed in the past 150 years, despite the passage of four or five generations since then. The majority of today’s tea garden workers in Bangladesh are descended from those first settlers.
Tea workers from 158 gardens in the Sylhet and Chittagong divisions went on a two-hour strike from August 9-12, causing disruptions during the peak of the leaf-plucking season. Their full-day strike began on August 13. Since the current pay is not keeping up with rising prices and a weakening currency, unions are pushing for a raise of Tk300 per day. The DG warned employees in a letter dated August 12 that “such strikes contravene the labour law.”
Despite the state-wide lockdown that was imposed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, tea estates continued to operate normally. Some tea plantation workers tried to organize a strike, but they were unsuccessful when asking for their rights.
The significant marginalization of tea garden workers in Bangladesh is the primary driver of modern-day slavery within this country's tea sector. Workers in Bangladesh's tea gardens face social and economic exclusion, leaving them with few employment options. Many employees labour extra hours or enlist the help of family members (such as children) to make sure they achieve daily targets (usually 23kg) or risk having their pay reduced.
When it comes to the tea industry, the payment system, especially for leaf pickers, encourages modern slavery.
Workers in Bangladesh's tea gardens are Bangladeshi citizens, and as such they are protected by the country's labour laws. The Tea Plantations Labour Ordinance of 1962 and the Tea Plantations Labour Rules of 1977 were the applicable pieces of legislation for a significant portion of time. The Bangladesh Labour Act of 2006, however, repealed these and 25 other laws pertaining to workers. Workers are guaranteed certain benefits under the 2006 act, such as a monthly minimum income of Tk1,500, a Sunday leave (or double pay for working), paid leave during pregnancy, convenient nearby facilities, and so on.
However, discrimination still exists in labour laws that affect those who work in the tea industry specifically. In particular, workers in other industries receive 10 days of unpaid leave while tea workers receive none, and workers in other industries receive one day of earned leave for every 18 days worked, whereas tea workers must work 22 days to earn one day of leave.
The situation of tea garden workers and their families, especially women and children, has remained dismal despite Bangladesh's tremendous gains in human development indicators in recent years. The most valuable asset of a country's tea industry are its workers, so it is the government's duty to establish rules of fair trade in the tea sector and assure justice and protection for them.
Maisha Tabassum Anima is a freelance contributor.