Cases pile up in Chattogram labour court

Madhuram Rajak, employed as a tea garden worker in Sylhet, lost his job in 2013, which said was unlawful. Madhuram lodged a complaint with the Chattogram Divisional Second Labour Court seeking justice. Five years on, the case still remains unsettled.

Like Madhuram’s case, many others have remained unsettled for different reasons, including a shortage of judges.

Labour lawyers said any case in the labour court must be settled in 60 days in accordance with the labour law.

But frequent changes of hearing dates and shortage of judges have dragged cases year after year, they said.

The entire Chattogram district, except Chandgaon and Double Mooring police station, Lakshimpur, Feni, Noakhali, Cumilla, Chandpur, Cox’s Bazar and three hilly districts are under the Chattogram Divisional First Labour Court.

Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, and Chattogram’s Chandgaon and Double Mooring police station are under the Chattogram Divisional Second Labour Court.

At least 1,260 cases have remained unsettled in the first labour court while the number is 720 for the second labour court, according to court officials.

The labour court generally deals with the cases tied to labour rights, compensation and trade union.

According to the labour law, the government appoints a district or sessions judge as chairman for the labour court.  

Another 12 representatives—six from the labour ministry and the law ministry and the rest from owners and labourers representatives—are appointed to assist the chairman every two years.

However, a single judge has been conducting the two labour courts in Chattogram as of December 2017. That post fell vacant after he retired.

However, the government appointed a chairman for the Divisional Second Labour Court in Chattogram who is yet to take the reins of the court.

Labourers are being deprived of their rights because of the loopholes in the labour law, said Tapan Datta, president of Trade Union Centre for Chattogram.

Most of them become impatient as the court takes a long time to settle a case, he added.

Radha Chasha, a tea garden worker in Sylhet’s Putiyachara, filed a case against the owner in 2014 after he had been fired from his job.

The court has not begun to record the plaintiff’s testimony yet, showing a slim chance of completing the case soon, said lawyer Jane Alam who moved for the worker. 

He told bdnews24.com that the court schedules case dates much later even it is an emergency case. “This delays justice.”

“Labour rights are fulfilled once a case is settled fast,” said the lawyer.

Although Sylhet has become a division in 1995, the labour law-related cases still have to be filed with the Chattogram labour court discouraging workers to seek justice.    

Bangladesh Tea Workers Union General Secretary Rambhajan Koiree said tea gardens are situated in Sylhet and Sreemangal with their workers living in the same areas.   

“It is difficult for poor tea garden workers to go to court to seek justice,” he said.

The labour leader demanded the establishment of a labour court in Sreemangal.

Former President of Chattogram Journalist Union Anjan Sen had lodged a case in the labour court in 2009 after being sacked by the news agency UNB.  

The court in a verdict on Step 26 last year asked the news agency to reinstate his job and compensate him after eight years of filing the case.

“The case settlement in the labour court is a lengthy process and it becomes longer if someone appeals to the higher courts,” said Sen. 

“It is not feasible for workers to wait so long and therefore they opt for an out-of-court settlement with the defendant.”