The workers of the country’s 167 tea plantations, including 92 in Moulvibazar, continued their indefinite strike for the 17th day Thursday demanding that they are paid Tk300-a-day wages instead of the current Tk120. On Thursday afternoon workers from Dewrachara, Premnagar, Majdihi ,Hamidia and some other tea gardens blocked Berir Par intersection of Dhaka-Moulvibazar regional highway and staged rally for around an hour to press for the pay hike. The workers came to Moulvibazar sadar area from their repective gardens with protest processions, while workers in several other gardens also staged rallies. Also read: Tea garden workers continue strike in Sylhet The protesting workers said they will not withdraw their strike they launched on August 9 until the prime minister announces Tk 300 daily pay for them. However, the district administration and police held meetings with Panchayet committees of the plantations in their continued bid to convince the workers to return to work.   The movement started on August 9, when workers from 241 tea gardens of the country abstained from work for two hours, demanding Tk 300 as daily wages. As their demand was not met, they decided to go on a full-scale strike from August 13. After holding meetings with tea garden owners and other stakeholders in the past two weeks, the tea workers’ union agreed to resumption of work from Monday and get Tk 120 as wages for the time being, but that was rejected by the general workers. Also read: Moulvibazar tea workers resume strike defying union leaders’ decision The ongoing strike is the continuation of the previously declared movement by the tea garden workers.

The recent strike by the tea workers has brought national attention to a largely forgotten community of Bangladesh. Very little is known about their ethnic identity, culture or what they think about their lives in general. Although several studies have been carried out by various agencies including UN agencies, they have not reached the public space. It is because the public are not interested in their life and living. They care about their cup of tea but not the tea workers. This is only natural but the reason is that Bangladesh's majority population group's shushil middle class are narrow in their interest zone. They appear to less interested learning about their own citizens facing both structural and incidental discrimination. Not much will change soon but it’s important that an information stream be created to let people know about the way of life of the tea workers. Following is a brief profile of this population group which draws upon several studies including once done by the ILO. Tea plantation workers were brought to the Sylhet zone by British companies and belong to several ethnic and cultural groups. For a long while, only these workers imported from outside Bengal were working in the gardens. However, over time, a few Bengali workers from Barisal and Comilla have also been found among the tea workers. Also read: Tea garden workers continue strike in Sylhet Many of the workers originate from Orissa and they speak Deshali which has a significant Bengali mix. There are workers who speak Bhojpuri also. Some speak modified Hindi. Asomiya, Oran,Munda, Telugu and Santali speakers have also been found. All these languages and dialects have mixed together to produce a tea-garden hybrid spoken by the workers. Ethnic groups include Lohar, RobiDas, Bagdee, Bhumij, Bauri, Bahadur, Nayek, Rikiason, Shobdokar, Ashon, Naidu, Donia, Rai, Munda,Chotree, Patra, Kalindee,Kumir, Halder, Kondo, Bhumia, Orao,Santal, Mahali, Barai,Rajbhar, Pashi,Kharia, Goala,Munda, Bunargee, Nunia, Uria, Kaloar, Bhuian, Kurmi and Khasis. They are marginalized Hindu groups from different parts of eastern India as well indigenous groups. However, their ancient tradition is not practiced by most. Bangladesh Adivasi Forum also does not recognize most of the communities as "indigenous " either. Marginalization  Very few of them are receiving higher education and employed outside the tea plantations. They also fear discrimination in the outside world. A college teacher, son of a tea garden worker, said that educated youth are not keen to return to plantation life. Most stay away from their tea garden origins and generally hide their identity. Given the kind of image, social status and public perception they have, this is only natural.  Most of the workers are Hindus while some also practice animism. Christians and Muslims are very few but are there. Singing, dancing particularly Jhumur and lathi dance are popular during festivals. Durga Puja is the most popular cultural and religious festival. Also read: Moulvibazar tea workers resume strike defying union leaders’ decision They are considered both a lower class and caste and largely avoided by Bengalis as a community. Most workers are intimidated by Bengalis so there is no inter-mixing. Language is also a barrier. As they speak little fluent Bangla, chances of mixing is also low. Interestingly, there are some groups –indigenous - who are not tea workers but who live in the plantation area. They are now being threatened with eviction. Access to economics and social services Very few receive any form of GOB assistance (7.5%) and they are mostly excluded from any kind of government social safety programs. NGOs provide some services including credit, primary and non-formal education and sanitation etc. However, these were very inadequate. Around (56%) were members of credit groups but they were not able to say what their own savings were or what they planned to do with it. Wages + 90% of the workers are unsatisfied with their wages. 78% felt hugely overworked and 57% were unhappy with their work hours. Job security was satisfactory as it meant a lifetime employment but 60% were not happy with their workplace safety. Around 63% said that their rights were violated but few had any idea what their rights were. Both workers and trade union leaders think education is fundamental for change and believe that if their children are to have a better life, education is out. But the opportunity for education was hugely limited with almost no post primary schools in the plantations. And outside schools cost money and they have none of that. Most felt that lack of education condemned their life to servitude in the garden. One factor that kept them tied to the gardens was housing facilities so this acted as a malicious glue to the plantations even though many thought their life was one of high denial. Workers who have cultivated land that are sub-leased from the gardens are now being taken away by the owners and the government on the grounds of garden space extension or new gardens. The profile shows that this community made up of several ethnic groups were some of the most discriminated against with no bargaining power. Not only is their life crushingly difficult but there are few options on the table for them to use as an escape route. It’s a life about intergenerational condemnation to a life which was not their choice to begin and continues to be the same.

Tea garden workers in Sylhet continued with their strike on Wednesday, the 16th day of their protest movement, demanding revision of their wages to Tk 300 from the existing Tk 120. In tea gardens across Sylhet, UNB found that tea garden workers were carrying on with their movement by staging protests and forming human chains in groups. After a meeting with the tea garden workers' union leaders on Tuesday, the Panchayat heads decided to carry on with their movement until their demand for higher wages is met. Read:Moulvibazar tea workers resume strike defying union leaders’ decision The movement started on August 9, when workers from 241 tea gardens of the country abstained from work for two hours, demanding Tk 300 as daily wages. As their demand was not met, they decided to go on a full-scale strike from August 13. After holding meetings with tea garden owners and other stakeholders in the past two weeks, the tea garden workers’ union agreed to resumption of work from Monday and get Tk 120 as wages for the time being, but that was rejected by the workers. The ongoing strike is the continuation of the previously declared movement by the tea garden workers.

The general tea garden workers and union leaders are now divided over continuing their indefinite strike for a hike in their daily wage to Tk 300 from Tk 120, after the leaders signed a deal with the government at 3am Monday to return to work. Following a meeting held between the Bangladesh Tea Worker Union Leaders and Moulvibazar district administration that started Sunday night and ran into the wee hours of Monday, the union leaders announced the workers will withdraw their strike and return to work with the issue of their wages unresolved, except for a vague promise that the prime minister herself would intervene in the matter, at some point before Durga Puja. However, on Monday morning when two leaders went to call the workers of Kalighat tea garden in Sreemangal upazila for suspending the strike and returning to work, a group of general workers agitated over the decision and allegedly a physical altercation broke out. Similar situations arose in other gardens on Monday as some of the general workers returned to work while others refused to follow the decision and continued the strike. Also read: Tea workers call off strike, return to work with previous wage of Tk 120 Tea Workers Rights Movement President Ridesh Modi said, “Why did we enforce a strike for so long if we have to return to work with the previous wage?” On Sunday night an emergency meeting was held between the tea worker leaders and Moulvibazar district administration, apparently on instructions from the Prime Minister to resolve the current situation. After the meeting led by Moulvibazar Deputy Commissioner Mir Nahid Hasan, a joint statement signed by both parties on five conditions was issued. According to the written statement, Bangladesh Tea Workers Union reg No-B 77 would "withdraw their strike and join work from Monday, keeping faith and trust in the prime minister". Regarding the wage, it mentioned the workers will rejoin work at the current daily wage of Tk 120 for the time being. The union leaders claimed they appealed for holding a video conference with the prime minister before the Durga Puja celebration this year to present their demands through the district administration. The statement was signed on condition of Moulvibazar DC submitting their demands to the prime minister in writing and the tea plantation owners paying the wages of workers forfeited during the strike, as per the prevailing practice and procedures, said the leaders. Nipen Paul, General Secretary of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, said on August 20 after a meeting with the Labour Department, they suggested the general workers return to work with a hiked wage of Tk 145 and suspend the strike for the time being. But they refused and preferred to work for the Tk 120 wage till the prime minister fixes the final wage for impoverished tea workers. Also read: Tea workers return to strike for Tk 300 wage; block Dhaka-Sylhet highway “We gave the statement in accordance with their demands," said Nipen Paul. Mohan Rabidas, leading the general workers’ movement, said, ”The leaders never consulted with the general workers of the decisions they made or the meetings they held. The leaders are liable for the situation that has arisen now.”

Tucked away in another world beyond social and media scrutiny, the life of tea garden workers is basically terrible. This has been proven by much research but the situation has not changed. In fact chances of changing are low. The sector is based on poor wages. This has several reasons behind it. And not all are economic. One fact that is being missed is that any appeal to the government means appealing to an owner. The government owns and operates several gardens and reports suggest the conditions of the workers are the worst in those. So how sympathetic or fair the GOB can be can be guessed. The reality is that tea-garden workers are experiencing economic segregation akin to racism which is common in any so-called nation state. Only the majority has full rights in all the South Asian societies.  The tea garden workers are decidedly from a different ethnic background. When a ruling class claims its entire identity is based on ethnicity-Bengali- the chances other ethnic groups will also have equal rights is not realistic.     Read: Tea workers call off strike, return to work with previous wage of Tk 120 Functional slavery? According to a study conducted by Shahjalal University on behalf ILO in 2016, the main reason why tea garden workers do join the garden is due to lack of options.   ·         It said that the majority of the workers decided to work in the gardens due to ancestral connections. Others said they had no other alternatives. ( 63.2%)   ·         Any tea plantation worker who does not work in the gardens or is not registered as permanent workers is not permitted to possess or live in the labour line . As the workers don’t have land , inside or outside the garden they have no choice but to work in the garden. ·         Recruitment process is informal and 93% of workers are under informal contract. The reason why these people have no choice of employment is because they have no education or skills and no one wants to give it to them. If they do, such a denied population stuck to the gardens without any choice will depart and the tea sector will be hurt if not collapse. So the facts are obvious that no significant improvements in the conditions of the workers will happen as that will go against the interest of the owners which includes the government. The government as the main buyer and seller also makes more profit than others so the wisdom of appealing to the government who are a beneficiary of the dismal condition doesn’t make much logic. It’s important to set up a Tea Workers’ Wages and Benefits commission to identify what can be done. But who will do it ? One is however concerned that the sector may have been making profit by sustaining the current conditions and any fair wages will be resisted by all as it is not “feasible” in a chronically inefficient economic system. 

Tea garden workers, who rejected the wage hike by Tk 25 to Tk 145 a day staged demonstrations on Dhaka-Sylhet highway and Airport Road in Sylhet on Sunday demanding Tk 300 as their daily wage. They abstained from joining work as the leaders of Bangladesh Tea Workers Union on Saturday night announced that they did not withdraw the strike upon assurance of a Tk 25 hike in wage. Tea garden workers from five gardens including Teliapara, Surma, Noyapara staged rally at  Jagdishpur Muktijoddha Chattar area of Madhabpur upazila around 11:30 am and blocked the highway, creating a long tailback of vehicles on both sides of the road. Around 3 pm they suspended the blockade on instruction from Bangladesh Tea Worker Union leaders as they assured by August 23 their demand will be fulfilled. The workers from Sylhet valley gardens blocked the road connecting to MAG Osmani International Airport from 12 pm to 2 pm, creating a huge traffic gridlock. Also read: Tea garden workers’ strike not withdrawn: leaders

Four female tea garden workers were killed in a landslip at a tea garden in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar district on Friday morning amid their ongoing strike demanding an increase in their daily wages. The deceased were identified as Hira Rani Bhoumik, Bina Bhoumik, Purnima Bhoumik and Radhamoni Bhoumik. All were workers of Lakhaichhara Tea Garden of the upazila, fire service said. A chunk of mud from a hill fell on the workers in Lakkhichara tea garden of Kalighat union around 1pm while they were digging soil from the hill for repairing their home, leaving the four dead on spot, said Abdul Kadir, team leader of Sreemangal Fire Service and Civil Defense. Read: India landslide death toll reaches 47 Mamun Rashid Talukder, officer-in-charge (oc) of Sreemangal police station, said police were deployed at the spot.   The country's tea garden workers have been on a strike for over a week to demand that their daily wages are raised from current Tk120 to Tk300.