Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/71652
UNENDING UNREST continued from page 43 (which is similar to plantation sys- tems elsewhere in India), I turned to Ganesh Chettle, general secretary of DTDPL and participant in the 2011 embargo. He was active in empowering workers this spring as well: On March 22, Chettle met with union members to discuss concerns about non-fulfillment of kindness measures and the possibility of a strike. The group informed me that an estate called Ambootia was not meeting legal requirements for con- tributing toward workers' provident funds (similar to retirement funds), nor was it meeting demands for a fire road and a new blanket for each worker. (Blankets cost about 120 rupees each and are a legal requirement.) "If they don't meet our demands," Chettle said, "we will strike during the first flush." For many Darjeeling estates, the next day was the official start of first-flush harvest, an occasion also known as "Basket Day." On that day I was at the well-known Makaibari Tea Estate, where tea workers chatted, smiled and waited to receive annual rations, including new tea-harvesting baskets, blankets and (not legally required) boxes of sweets. Seven days later, however, over at Ambootia, the union's demands still weren't met and the promised strike began. On day two, I stood outside the gate to Ambootia's factory and offices. Temple music and birdsongs wafted over the landscape. The sun rose over a tea-covered hill to shine down on a few hundred of Ambootia's 912 workers. Union leaders gave speeches in a local Nepalese dialect. Despite the language barrier, I could glean meaning from their faces and from the faces of the workers: This was progress toward a more humane existence. After the hourlong strike, workers resumed their daily tasks. (The strike was more of a symbol than a shutdown.) I followed several union leaders to a meeting in the house of a union leader. Tea was served and cigarettes were smoked. An immediate meeting with management was requested by Ambootia, but it was denied and then rescheduled by union leaders. Within three days, a deal had been struck. Details were fuzzy, but the union seemed satisfied. As the Ambootia situation was being resolved, the hunger strike in Darjeeling town was going strong. This particular demonstra- tion put into focus the ways the area's unique property laws can affect the livelihoods of average workers. The issue took root in 1996 when a feud between the owner of the Ring Tong Tea Estate and his son culminated in the tea fac- tory and one bungalow being burnt down and the owner officially closing the estate. Closure means financial devastation for the 933 tea workers and their families, as plantation "owners" lease land from the government for increments of 33, 60 or 90 years, and workers (generally uneducated and poorly positioned to 44 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com change professions) are stuck in an economic vacuum until the lease is turned over. Twenty years still remain on Ring Tong's lease, and on March 27, seven tea workers from Ring Tong began their "fast unto death." After strug- gling for years to have their voices heard, the workers (emboldened by the success of the 2011 embargo) were taking an extreme step. The idea was to push the government to cancel the lease immediately and thus allow another owner to move in and bring back job-creating tea production. Union leaders, in fact, claimed that if the lease wasn't can- celled soon, all 87 Darjeeling tea gardens would shut down indefi- nitely, ceasing production during the region's most profitable season. Just as they did with the 2011 tea embargo, the union was threatening action that could devastate profitability for plantation owners. 352),76 $1' /266(6 Many Darjeeling tea planters grumble about financial struggles they say have resulted from last year's raise, and they point to estate closures in the nearby region of Dooars as a sign of things to come in Darjeeling. However, other Indian tea insiders say these claims are groundless. Modha, the consultant, says he doesn't understand why some plantation owners are calling the wage increase a short-term gain for workers and a long-term loss for plantations. "For any owner who is claiming no profit, why is he not selling [his estate]?" he asks. "Unfortunately, the level of transparency here is like the Darjeeling climate"—notoriously foggy. Although few growers give profitability numbers, Ankit Lochan, CEO of importer Lochan Sons, estimates that estates earn profits of $3 to $10 per kilogram. Similarly, Modha says that "normal Darjeeling profit is quite high." He says typical profit margin is above 40 percent, and profits often reach 60 to 70 percent. Modha adds, "Tea will never have a loss unless you want it to." Rajiv Lochan, owner of importer Lochan Tea Limited, agrees: "If the plantation says that $2 per day [for each worker] is not sus- tainable, then this is the most foolish statement. Losses are due to poor marketing and management." (Rajiv Lochan and Ankit Lochan are former partners who split this spring and now run separate companies.) 3266,%/( $16:(56 Industry analysts have proposed various solutions to Darjeeling tea labor issues, some internal and some external.