Indian tea crisis

Thousands of tea plantation workers in India are facing low wages, job insecuirty and malnutrition due to the Indian tea crisis, which is benefiting multinational corporations but harming poor communities.

Tea is a national institution in the UK. But behind our innocent cuppa, in the tea plantations of India, thousands of tea workers can barely make a living, are working in appalling conditions and have had their wages cut. Many families face hunger and even starvation.

"Now no matter how hard you work you can't feed your family. No one has work to give you. Everyone here is a small farmer. Everyone is having a crisis." says Aleyamma, a widow and grandmother in her fifties living in the Gudalur valley, Tamil Nadu.

Chandran, a worker on Hindustan Lever plantation, Tamil Nadu, says: "Earlier we used to buy fish or meat once or twice a week. Now that has stopped completely. We can't even think of it on wage day… Can't cut down on rice because it fills everyone's stomachs but we can't afford vegetables and dal any more."

But the companies behind our well-known teas, such as PG Tips and Lipton Tea, have continued to make handsome profits. Hindustan Lever, a subsidiary of Unilever, has benefited enormously from the steep fall in tea prices, announcing increased dividends for its shareholders. Last year, former Unilever chairman, Niall FitzGerald received a £1.2m golden handshake – more than the average tea picker could make in 5,000 years.

ActionAid exposed the problems facing thousands of workers that grow and pick the tea we drink everyday. Our research found:

• workers being paid lower wages for more work
• workers suffering from hunger and malnutrition
• workers facing increasing job insecurity
• tribal communities being thrown off their land by tea plantation owners
  
  

photo : ©ActionAid UK