Govt urged to reform labour law to ensure tea workers' rights

Labour experts on Thursday urged the government to reform certain sections of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, to safeguard accommodation, gratuity, casual leave and other service rights and benefits of tea workers, reports UNB.

They made the call during a stakeholders' meeting titled "Legal Reform for the Tea Sector Workers, organised by the Solidarity Centre at a hotel in the city.

Their recommendations include amendments to Section 28 of BLA on pensions to ensure gratuity for tea workers, Section 115 of BLA on casual leave, Section 117 on earned leave, and Section 32 of BLA on eviction to ensure tea workers.

Md. Habibur Rahman presented the keynote at the event, while Khandaker Shafin Habib, Solidarity Center programme officer, moderated the event.

Representing the tea workers, Ram Bhajan Kairi said, "BLA is a discriminatory law. We all need to come forward to reform or scrap it, and if necessary, all those sections that deliberately exclude tea workers from exercising their rights. These are oppressive laws."