Rubber: A death sentence to natural forests
Rubber, be it in the CHT, Madhupur or in the tea gardens, may bring some economic benefits to the state and private entrepreneurs, but in general it has not been beneficial to the people who once used these lands.
1m ago
Owners win, workers lose
It is a shame that the wage board completely failed in framing and presenting acceptable recommendations on the tea workers’ wage structure.
8m ago
How forestry projects destroy forests
Though eucalyptus was eradicated from the public forest land, social forestry continues at a very high cost to natural ecosystems.
1y ago
Why do women in tea gardens face higher reproductive health risks?
Women in the tea gardens suffer from a host of reproductive and health issues, which remain unaddressed.
1y ago
No justice in paying tea workers’ arrears
The owners’ fickleness about signing of the agreement has come as a big shock to tea garden workers.
1y ago
Expand social protection in the new year
The government has a huge task ahead in terms of making its social security programmes effective.
1y ago
Tea workers’ strike ends. What’s next?
Tea workers may not have had their demands fulfilled, but their united voice brings in a new era of workers' rights.
1y ago
Fairer wages, or more broken promises for tea workers?
In the best interests of the tea sector, tea garden owners and government functionaries should promote true trade unionism.
1y ago
April 2, 2022
Why do we need an artificial lake in Modhupur forest?
A beautiful baid may soon turn into a little artificial lake in Modhupur forest area. Baid is low land to grow rice and other crops in, between chala (high) land with sal stands.
December 27, 2021
The strong women of tea gardens
It was midday on October 6, 2018. A woman was sitting under a mahogany tree at Sreemangal Upazila Health Complex in Moulvibazar. Another woman was holding a newborn wrapped in a blanket.
October 12, 2021
Will the tea workers get the wages they deserve?
An unthinkable and deplorable situation has risen out of the rigid position taken by the Minimum Wage Board (MWB) that was formed to fix the minimum wage for the hapless tea workers of Bangladesh.
August 24, 2021
Tea workers routinely ignored during the Covid-19 pandemic
Paban Paul, 38, a tea worker of Rampur Tea Garden in Bahubal upazila (Habiganj district), died of Covid-19 on July 6. Rampur Tea Garden is a furi (division) of Rashidpur Tea Estate, owned by Finlay Tea Co. Ltd.
July 2, 2021
An autopsy of the tea workers’ bizarre wage structure
The Minimum Wage Board (MWB), formed in October 2019, declared a draft wage structure for tea garden workers through a gazette notice published on June 13, 2021.
February 11, 2021
Modhupur forest: The sylvan aroma is gone
Once a pure jungle, Modhupur sal forest is now, for the most part, a motley assortment of vast banana, pineapple and spice orchards.
September 9, 2020
Time to pay just wages to tea workers
Ratan Shadhu (56), a tea worker from Doloi Tea Garden in Moulvibazar district, earns a daily cash wage of Tk 102 (USD 1.2).
August 10, 2020
The indigenous communities of the plains need urgent social protection
The indigenous communities of the plains of Bangladesh, including those in the tea gardens, are excluded and marginalised for their identity, occupations, casteism, culture, geographical locations, and various other reasons.
May 1, 2020
Why are tea workers out of the ambit of labour law?
The tea plantation workers (TPWs) in some 60 tea gardens in Sylhet stopped work for a day or two in the beginning of the countrywide lockdown.
April 16, 2020
No one, nowhere, should go hungry or die without care
The coronavirus has affected us all—rich and poor alike. Yet, giving attention and care to communities considered excluded, marginalised and invisible should be a priority for the state and well-to-dos.
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