“We tea workers toil under the scorching sun and in the rain throughout the year. Even when pregnant, we work in the tea gardens. But if we fall ill and take a day’s leave, we are forced to sit in the garden office for three hours to mark our attendance. If we don’t, our wages are deducted. If a worker falls sick due to high blood pressure, they should be resting in bed. Yet, even in such a bedridden condition, the office staff make us sit in the office from 9 AM to 12 PM,” said Madhuri Das, a worker from the Daldali Tea Garden, highlighting their plight.

These concerns were raised during a meeting organized by the non-governmental voluntary organization Ethnic Community Development Organization (ECDO) on Tuesday (June 24) at 10 AM. The meeting was held at the conference room of Hotel Nirvana Inn in Mirzajangal, Sylhet.

ECDO, with support from the European Union and Oxfam in Bangladesh, is currently implementing a project titled “Leadership Development of Tea Labour Women Workers on Their Rights” to foster leadership among women tea workers and raise awareness about their rights. This advocacy meeting was part of that initiative.

Like Madhuri Das, other workers, including Ganga Das from Keoachhara Tea Garden, Radhamani Munda from Hiluachhara Tea Garden, and Rupamoni Das from Daldali Tea Garden, shared similar inhumane experiences. The meeting was chaired by ECDO’s Executive Director Lakshmikanta Singh, with special guests Iqbal Siddiquee, former president of the District Press Club, and Shah Didar Alam Chowdhury Nobel, former general secretary.

Speakers at the meeting said, “The tea industry is being destroyed by a nexus of domestic and foreign entities, and tea workers are bearing the brunt. Our country’s tea leaves remain unsold in factories, yet tea is imported from abroad. A business syndicate is orchestrating this to ruin the tea industry. The government’s policymakers must step forward to break this syndicate and reform the tea industry’s policies. Otherwise, tea workers will remain trapped in a cycle of exploitation and deprivation. In 2025, if we still witness the same exploitation of tea workers as we did 200 years ago, it is a matter of shame for us.”

The tea workers added, “Medical expenses are deducted from our wages, but we don’t even receive basic healthcare services. Our daily wage of 178 taka is not paid regularly. Only we know how we sustain our families with our children under such conditions. We cannot do any work other than plucking tea leaves, so we cannot switch to other professions. For generations, our ancestors have toiled in these tea gardens, and we have followed in their footsteps. Yet, we still have no rights to the land.”