K
eny
a
Keny
enya
W
oes of T
ea Planta
tion W
ork
ers
Woes
Tea
Plantation
Work
orkers
Indian
tea
plantation
companies often cite Kenya as
competitor in the world market and
demand more concessions and
‘liberal’ labour laws in order to
compete with Kenyan tea exports.
The Indian tea sector is dominated
by the multinational Unilever which
controls 80% of tea produced in
India. The same Unilever owns tea
plantation in Kericho County in
Kenya. It has the largest tea estate
with 8700 hectares, 5500
permanent workers and several
thousand seasonal workers. It is
being argued that Kenyan tea is
cheaper than that of India due to
use of ‘domestic labour’ (referring
to seasonal workers) and ‘quality
plucking’ (referring to mechanized
plucking). The Indian tea
companies demand similar
conditions as in Kenya.
Kenyan tea plantations are
owned by British corporate giants,
including Unilever and Finley. As in
the other former colonial countries,
tea plantation companies started in
Kenya under British rule. Other
British companies like Brooke
Bond and Lipton entered Kenya in
1970s. During the British rule,
workers were brought to the
Kenyan plantations from oppressed
tribes in Kenya, as well as from
Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and
Burundi and subjected to inhuman
oppression. Today Kenya is the
largest exporter, making 25 per
cent of world’s tea exports.
There are small farmers who
grow tea plants on their land. Small
scale plantations use traditional
methods of plucking and
maintenance of plantations. So
they cannot compete with big
companies on prices. According to
a UN-FAO report, 50% of the small
holder farmers live below poverty
line. Altogether – tea workers, small
farmers, small factory owners and
October - 2019
workers – ten per cent of the
Kenyan population, around 5
million people depend upon tea
industry.
The same colonial period’s
forms of exploitation continue with
impunity. Child labour along with
casual labour without job security
and underpayment are prevalent.
Permanent worker in Unilever’s
plantation can make 515 shillings
a day, barely sufficient for daily
expenses. Manual plucking
workers get 16 shillings per kilo of
plucked tea leaves. To take home
515 shillings, she or he will have to
pluck a back breaking average of
32 kilos.
Four workers are assigned to
each plucking machine. Two
operate the machine, while
another carries the tea leaves to
weighing station and the fourth
sorts the plucked leaves. They get
minimum payment only when they
reached the target set by the
supervisor. In Unilever’s plantation,
the supervisors called clerks wears
police type uniforms and ride bikes
to drive the workers to achieve
daily targets.
The workers live in two types of
‘houses’ in plantations. The
bachelors’ quarters have one room,
while the others have two rooms.
Several houses have to share a
toilet. Most of the single room
houses were allotted to seasonal
workers, who must quit them after
the season is over. One or two
families lived in the two room
houses. This housing reminds one
of the harsh accommodation
provided for tea plantation workers
in India and Sri Lankha.
Tea companies run schools and
hospitals, with school fees
deducted from worker’s pay. Most
of the children of workers drop out
from school because families
cannot afford it, and the children
must work for a living.
In 2016, workers demanded
pay increase of more than 30 per
cent; but the labour court granted
only 16%. In 2017 when workers
went on strike for better wages, the
Unilever and Finley refused to
negotiate with the workers and
armed forces shot at striking
workers killing one. About 336
workers were sacked.
This experience shows that
plantation managements acts
hands in glove with the Kenyan
state to suppress the workers and
the necessity if unity of tea
plantation workers to fight the
predatory global corporations that
exploit their labour.
Revolutionary Homage to comrade Md. Ghani
Com. Md. Ghani (alias Nalla Sivan) has departed at an advanced
age of 90 years owing to failing health. He was from Mannadapuram,
Trichi, Tamil Nadu. He was a railway driver and active among the
railway workers and in the Trichi Ponmalai Railway Union. He joined
the CPI (ML) of 1970. He resigned to the job as decided by the party
and continued the work among the railway workers. Responding to
the call of the leadership, he went to the village and carried on the
work there in UG. Later, he joined the TNOC, CPI (ML) and worked in
it till the last movement of his life. We cherish his memories and pay
our revolutionary homage to the departed comrade.
Oct 21, 2019
Central Committee
CPI (ML)
7