Tea workers in Sylhet face hardship as salaries remain unpaid for 3 months

Nearly 17,000 workers at state-owned tea estates have not been paid for three months, affecting at least 30,000 of their dependents

Rishi Goyala, a tea worker at Sylhet’s Lakatura Tea Estate under the state-owned National Tea Company, has been working at the estate for 40 years. He resides in the workers' colony of the estate with his four-member family. No matter the difficulty, he has always managed to make a living by working in the tea garden.

However, for the past three months, he has not received any salary or rations.

As a result, Rishi now has to find work outside the garden, earning no more than Tk 100 to Tk 150 a day. But this work is not available every day.

Rishi has visited the estate management several times to inquire when his payment would come.

He was told to wait. But with no income to feed his family, Rishi asks, how long can one wait if they can’t afford to eat?

On Friday, 55-year-old Rishi expressed his frustration and despair, saying: "I’ve worked in the tea garden for so many years. There has never been a continuous period where wages were withheld for so long. We don’t even know when our wages will be paid. We are just being told to wait. How long can we wait without food? I can’t even send my children to school. Is there no one to notice our plight?"

Rishi said, "On some days, I earn Tk 100 to Tk 150 by working outside, but such opportunities are not available every day. This is how it has been. We survive on one meal of rice and the next on roti. The deputy commissioner has promised that our wages will be arranged, so we haven’t staged any protests."

Amiran Goyala, who has been working at the estate for 24 years, said this situation is unprecedented for tea workers.

For three months, they have not been paid, and this problem is common across all government-run tea estates, he said.

Amiran said, "We are collecting firewood and vines from the garden and selling them to make ends meet. There are 1,270 workers at the Lakatura Tea Estate, each with a family to support. Initially, the DC’s office provided 20 kg of rice, but two or three weeks ago, they gave us only 10 kg of rice, along with some potatoes, oil, lentils, and salt."

He added, "The Sylhet deputy commissioner has assured us that he is working on our wage issue, which is why we have refrained from protests. But for the past three months, we have not received any further aid. We have no idea when our wages will be paid."

On Friday afternoon, tea workers at the Lakatura Tea Estate shared their plight with reporters, describing the hardships they face due to the prolonged salary delay.

The wages of workers at tea estates under the National Tea Company, or NTC, have been withheld for three months.

Workers at the Lakatura, Daldali, and Keowachhra Tea Estates in Sylhet staged road blockades, protests, and human chain demonstrations demanding their due wages but have seen no response.

According to Raju Goyala, organising secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, workers in all 12 tea estates in Sylhet Division under the NTC are facing the same issue.

There are 16 tea estates under the NTC across the country, including those in Fadri, employing around 17,000 workers.

An additional 30,000 people depend on these workers for their livelihoods.

All tea estates in Sylhet Division under the NTC have experienced wage delays.

Ashtomi Lohar, a female worker at the Lakatura Tea Estate, said: "For three months, we have not received our wages, and it has become extremely difficult to feed our 11-member family. Three of us used to work in the garden to support the family, but now we are struggling without wages."

She continued, "We are surviving on vegetables like taro and leafy greens from the garden. We can’t send our children to school, and we don’t even have enough food to eat."

Sunka Modi, another female worker, said: "We eat rice one time and roti the next. We make rice with potato curry, and chutney, and eat boiled taro. That’s how we survive. We are crying for our wages and speaking up, but no one is listening. How long can we fight? Who can we tell our pain to?"

Mohana Goyala, a teenager, said that her brother worked in the garden to support the family of four. With the wages withheld, they are now struggling. "How can we manage food without our wages?" she asked.

Shitu Lohar, the Panchayat or village council president of Lakatura Tea Estate, said: "We have not received any news about our wages. Workers are managing as best they can. We will wait until Saturday for our wages. If we don’t receive them, we will resume protests on Sunday."

Mintu Das, the village council president of Daldali Tea Estate, said: "It has been three months without wages. The company has not communicated anything. The workers are going through extreme hardship, surviving on little or no food."

Raju Goyala, president of the Sylhet Valley Branch of the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union and organising secretary of the central committee, said: "The workers’ wages have been due for 11 weeks and we will enter the 12th week on Saturday. The company has not provided any information on when the wages will be paid. They have been continuously saying that wages will be paid, but without specifying a date."

"This is the first time that wages have been overdue for such a long period at the NTC-run estates. This has never happened before," he added.

Syed Mahmud Hasan, managing director of Lakatura Tea Estate, said: "The company has made efforts, but no solution has been reached yet. We hope something will happen soon."

Sylhet District Commissioner Mohammad Sher Mahbub Murad said, "A board has been formed regarding this issue. The process of raising capital to address the workers’ wages is currently underway."