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Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/71652
Tom Heinemann, the Danish journalist behind the award-winning documentary "The Bitter Taste of Tea," says that according to International Labour Organization standards, almost every tea laborer in the world is working under "slave conditions." He notes that a recent wage hike elevated Darjeeling tea laborers to the "absolute" poverty line set by the United Nations Development Programme. Heinemann says "absolute" poverty is "great" com- pared with "extreme" poverty (the level below "abso- lute" and at which most tea workers live), but adds, "What else can you say when you have nothing at all and then get a little bit more to add to the nothing?" G.C. Somani, superintendent of Tukvar Tea Estate and a Darjeeling Tea Association representative, says the wage hike was necessary. "The workers are the main constituent of the industry," he says. "If they don't survive, how can we survive?" Darjeeling tea consultant Nalin Modha adds that wages for similar work in other industries in Darjeeling are typically more than 120 rupees (about $2.15) per day, but other jobs don't provide "kindness measures"—benefits such as housing and medical care that have long been part of tea workers' compensation packages. One idea is to replace kindness measures with higher wages. For example, Modha suggests a strategy of no kindness but wages of 250 rupees ($4.50) per day and a 10 percent raise every three years. However, others say the transition to a wage-only system would be difficult. G.C. Somani, superintendent of Tukvar Tea Estate and a Darjeeling Tea Association representative, says that part of the problem is that "kindness" in Darjeeling is a cradle-to-grave responsibility that can include maternity care and services during retirement. Most everyone in Darjeeling agrees that workers are not prepared to save or invest additional income for long-term expenses like medical care, housing and retirement. For these reasons, Rajiv Lochan proposes doubling wages and keeping current kindness measures. "Look at the price indexes," he says. "The workers should get at least $4 per day." Lochan also advocates that the 75 percent of Darjeeling tea currently sold at auction be sold directly instead. He argues that the auction supply chain (which typically involves multiple middlemen in multiple countries) is inefficient in getting money back to estates and to workers. Lochan believes that estates like Seeyok, Selimbong, Ambootia and Makaibari are "really making money" by circum- venting the auction system. Meena Tamang, Fairtrade Labor Organization representative for India, posits that buying fair-trade tea ensures that workers are afforded better conditions. She points out that "joint funds" (money set aside from fair-trade income for projects like medical facilities, rainwater harvesting projects and scholarships) provide workers with a higher quality of life. She suggests that higher fair-trade premiums would allow estates to increase funding of important projects. However, consultant Modha questions whether all earmarked funds (like those created by the fair-trade system) go to projects. "Each of the 87 Darjeeling tea gardens has a different system," says Modha. "To know the differences, you have to talk to managers and workers." He suggests placing specific conditions, such as installing 100 bathrooms, on large purchases. 7+( (1' 2) 7+( +81*(5 675,.( As with so many other disputes in India, the Ring Tong strike reached a fairly amicable agreement. According to union leader Rajendra Rajut Singh and local press accounts, the Ring Tong court case progressed with the usual syrupy slowness of India's justice system, but enough of an accord was reached outside court to cease the hunger strike without a death toll. The absentee owner was required to hand over the lease to a new owner so work could resume on April 23. He also was ordered to issue a payment of 5.7 crore rupees (more than $1 million) to workers within one month (though whether that payment will arrive is in question). This strike came to an end, but workers across Darjeeling are likely to continue to protest off and on again as they push for rights and for improvements in their standards of living. freshcup.com July 2012 45