Tea but no sympathy – A summary Social sustainability of consumed in Finland Supported by crowdfunding organised on the People´s Cultural Foundation’s Kulttuurilahja -plat- form and by the Finnwatch Decent Work Research Programme. The Programme is supported by:

An abbreviated and translated version of the original Finnish report. In the event of interpretation disputes the Finnish text applies. The original is available at www.fi nnwatch.org.

Finnwatch is a non-profi t organisation that investigates the global impacts of Finnish business en- terprises. Finnwatch is supported by 11 development, environmental and consumer organisations and trade unions: The International Solidarity Foundation ISF, Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo, The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Felm, Pro Ethical Trade Finland, The Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK, Attac, Finn Church Aid, The Dalit Solidarity Network in Finland, Friends of the Earth Finland, KIOS Foundation and The Consumers’ Union of Finland.

Layout: Petri Clusius/Amfi bi ky Publication date: October 2019 Cover photo: A worker on a tea plantation in the Nuwara Eliya district in Sri Lanka. The person in the photo is not connected to Finnwatch’s investigation. Finnwatch will not publish pictures of the individuals who were intervie- wed for this report due to consideration for their safety. Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 4 2. : THE NILGIRIS ...... 5 Methodology ...... 5 The Estates ...... 6 Working and living conditions at tea plantations in the Nilgiris ...... 7 3. INDIA: ...... 19 Methodology ...... 19 Jalinga Tea ...... 19 Working and living conditions at Jalinga Tea, Assam ...... 20 4. SRI LANKA: NUWARA ELIYA AND RATNAPUTRA ...... 28 Methodology ...... 28 The Pedro Estate ...... 28 The Opata Estate ...... 29 Working and living conditions at the Pedro Estate and the Opata Estate ...... 30 5. CONCLUSIONS ...... 41 6. RECOMMENDATIONS...... 44

3 1. Introduction

Millions of people in tea producing countries The current climate crisis has a signifi - are directly engaged in the production of tea cant impact on the cultivation of tea. Tea is and many more depend on it for their live- said to be one of the crops most adversely lihood. Labour rights abuses are prevalent affected by climate change. Changes in its and well-documented at tea plantations in yield, quality and production areas will have many of the producing countries. This report an impact on tea prices and demand for tea, explores the working conditions in the pro- the livelihood of millions of people and the duction of the tea consumed in Finland. The economy of the producing countries. Tea cul- tea plantations covered are suppliers to both tivation also has adverse ecological impacts. Finnish tea houses and international . The industry needs to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies to cope with climate More than one million kilos of tea is con- change.6 sumed in Finland each year. The Finnish tea market’s value is approximately 55 million The original version of this report, written euros.1 The biggest Finnish tea houses are in Finnish7, was published in October 2019. Forsman Tea and Nordqvist, but international This abbreviated English version includes brands Twinings (market leader) and in full the fi eld research fi ndings, conclu- dominate the market. Private label tea sions and recommendations presented in products are also gaining in popularity.2 the original report. Both have been fi nanced by crowdfunding organised on the People´s Although both Finnish tea houses source tea Cultural Foundation Kulttuurilahja -platform directly from the producing countries and and by the Finnwatch Decent Work Research fl avour and pack their products in Finland, Programme. the majority of the tea consumed in Finland is imported from other European countries as ready-made tea products for the con- sumer market. In addition to international products that are imported to Finland from countries such as Poland and the UK, all of Finland’s major grocery retail chains, Kesko, S Group and Lidl Finland, source their private label nearly exclusively from Central European tea houses. One private label product is sourced from a Sri Lankan manufacturer. Each year, around 48,000 kilos of Fairtrade certifi ed tea is sold in Finland3. According to a rough estimate, the Rainforest Alliance and UTZ combined have approximately a 20 percent market share of all tea sold in super- markets4. The demand for organic tea is on the rise5 but beyond the scope of this report.

6 Han W. et al., 2018, Tea cultivation under changing cli- 1 Kauppalehti, 14.2.2019, Nordqvist tähtää Suomen ar- matic conditions. In: Sharma, V. S. and Gunasekare, M. vostetuimmaksi teebrändiksi (‘Nordqvist aiming to be- T. K. (eds), Global tea science: Current status and futu- come the most valued Finnish tea brand’) re needs, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambrid- 2 Finnpartnership, Tea in Finland 2017 ge, UK 3 Fairtrade Finland, Jenni Sundberg, email on 9.9.2019 7 Finnwatch, 2019, Teetä ilman sympatiaa – Suomessa 4 Rainforest Alliance, Sven Drillenburg, email on kulutettavan teen sosiaalinen vastuullisuus, available at 26.9.2019 https://fi nnwatch.org/images/pdf/Teeta_ilman_sympa- 5 Euromonitor, Tea in Finland 2019 tiaa_fi nal.pdf

4 2. India: The Nilgiris Interviewees were selected randomly from among all workers at the three estates. Most of the interviewees were tasked with tea METHODOLOGY plucking and maintenance, others with dis- The Craigmore Plantations, Glenworth Estate tributing agrochemicals. All the interviewees and United Estates were selected were from Scheduled Castes (Dalit) or as sites for Finnwatch fi eld research by com- Scheduled Tribes (indigenous peoples). Both paring the supplier information that Forsman groups face systematic discrimination and Tea and Nordqvist provided to Finnwatch and poverty in India.10 the publicly available information on other tea brands’ suppliers8. As is required by Finnwatch’s Ethical Guidelines, the Craigmore Plantations, Between August and October 2018, Cividep Glenworth Estate and United Nilgiri Tea India9 researchers conducted interviews Estates as well as the certifi cation schemes with 20 workers from each of the three Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and Fairtrade were plantations. Worker interviews were pre- given the opportunity to comment on the dominantly conducted on the estates in fi eld research fi ndings before their publi- the workers’ living quarters in conditions cation. Their comments are incorporated that ensured confi dentiality. In addition, below where relevant. Both the Craigmore Cividep researchers interviewed repre- Plantations and United Nilgiri Tea Estates sentatives of local, state and national trade said the fi ndings were false and threatened unions that represent plantation workers. Finnwatch with legal action should the In October 2018, a Finnwatch researcher organisation proceed with the report’s visited the Nilgiris and conducted interviews publication. with tea plantation workers and trade union representatives. The Rainforest Alliance and UTZ, which are in the process of merging and will in future Most of the interviewees were originally use the name Rainforest Alliance, submit- from . They were interviewed in ted a single, joint response to Finnwatch. In their mother tongue, Tamil. A small portion the response, the Rainforest Alliance said of interviewees were migrant workers from that they welcomed Finnwatch’s research Jharkhand, who were interviewed in Hindi. All and that it would help the Rainforest Alliance interviews by the Finnwatch researcher were improve its own systems and the condi- conducted with the help of an interpreter. tions in the plantations that it certifi ed. The

Table 1: Composition of the interview sample in the Nilgiris

Craigmore Plantations Glenworth Estate United Nilgiri Tea Estates Gender: female/male 9/11 14/6 12/8 Educational level: 1/6/13 0/4/13 7/3/10 secondary/primary/none (3 not known) Type of employment rela- 17/3 (migrant) 12/8 (seasonal*) 8/12 (seasonal*) tionship: permanent/casual

* These casual workers are only employed during seasonal peaks. According to the interviewees, their status remains “not permanent” even though some of them had been working at Glenworth Estate or United Nilgiri Tea Estates since the early 2000s. In their responses, all the estates stated that they did not employ casual workers at all, only permanent workers.

8 All three plantation are suppliers to Nordqvist and Uni- 10 For more information see for example Ethical Trading lever. In addition, United Nilgiri Tea Estates is a supp- Initiative, 2019, Base Code Guidance: Caste in Glo- lier to Forsman and at least to , Twinings, bal Supply Chains, available at https://www.ethicalt- Typhoo, Ringtons and Marks & Spencer. Glenworth Es- rade.org/sites/default/fi les/shared_resources/ETI%20 tate is a supplier to at least Twinings. For more informa- Base%20Code%20guidance%2C%20caste%20in%20 tion see the links on a Traidcraft Exchange webpage at global%20supply%20chains.pdf https://traidcraftexchange.org/tea-answers 9 Cividep India is a Bangalore-based organisation wor- king on labour rights and corporate accountability.

5 Rainforest Alliance further noted that they Craigmore Plantations Private Ltd, estab- were aware of the challenges facing the tea lished in 1884, was originally known as the sector in both India and in Sri Lanka and that Ceylon Land and Produce Company Ltd. It these challenges were the very reason they is part of the Inlaks Group. The Craigmore were working in both these countries. In addi- Plantations comprises several gardens tion, the Rainforest Alliance said that they (Craigmore and Pascoe Woodlands Estate). would study the fi ndings and recommenda- The company employs around 1,400 people tions in this Finnwatch report and communi- and produces approximately 2 million kilos cate to Finnwatch at a later stage on the con- of tea each year. Craigmore Plantations is crete steps that these have subsequently led Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certifi ed. This to.11 past fi nancial year, the company managed to sell approximately 36 percent of its pro- In its response, Fairtrade noted that they duction as Rainforest Alliance certifi ed and a took the fi ndings by Finnwatch seriously. mere 2 percent as UTZ certifi ed. According to Fairtrade said that several of the Finnwatch the company, it does not get a price premium fi ndings corresponded with the results of its for Rainforest Alliance certifi ed tea and the own audits and the impact assessments the premium for UTZ certifi ed tea is 0.05 USD per organisation has commissioned. According kilo.13 to Fairtrade, those Finnwatch fi ndings that it was already aware of have been appro- Glenworth Estate Ltd comprises two gardens, priately sanctioned, but provided no further the Glendale Estate and Adderley Estate. It details. Fairtrade further noted that those provides employment to about 1,050 people. Finnwatch fi ndings that it had not been The total planted area of the estate is 525 aware of previously would now be further hectares, with a yield exceeding 3,000 kilos investigated. According to Fairtrade, chal- of made tea14 per hectare. Glenworth Estate lenges such as low wages, the marginalisa- is Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certifi ed, and tion of workers, the legacy of colonialism according to the company, it manages to and its related power imbalances are huge, sell approximately 90 percent of its produc- especially in Assam and West Bengal. In order tion as certifi ed. According to the company, to strengthen their own model, Fairtrade is it does not receive a price premium for the revising its criteria for sustainable tea as well certifi ed tea, but rather the price of its tea as the related pricing mechanisms, in consul- is dependent on quality alone. The Glendale tation with local civil society. The fi rst draft Factory produces in excess of 1.90 million of the revised criteria included suggestions kilos of tea every year. In addition to tea for improvements to workers’ wages, partici- grown at the company’s own gardens, tea pation and housing. The revised criteria are grown in other gardens is also processed at expected to be published in 2020.12 the Glendale Factory.15 United Nilgiri Tea Estates & Company Ltd THE ESTATES was established in 1922 and began exporting tea in 1984. It comprises several tea estates, The Craigmore Plantations, Glenworth Estate including Allada, Devabetta, Korakundah, and United Nilgiri Tea Estates are located in Kunda and Chamraj. The company employs municipality. It is located at a high more than 1,000 people. In the 2017/18 altitude in the Western Ghat mountain range fi nancial year, United Nilgiri Tea Estates in Tamil Nadu, in the area known as the produced almost 3 million kilos of tea of Nilgiris (Tamil for “blue hills”). Nilgiri tea is one of the three major Indian teas. The other two 13 Craigmore Plantations, About, https://www.craigmo- are and . Darjeeling replantations.com/about.php and Craigmore Planta- is grown in West Bengal. tions, M.N. Bopana, email on 23.9.2019 14 Green leaf tea is processed to “made” tea in tea fac- tories. 11 Rainforest Alliance, Marcus Schaefer, email on 15 Glendale Teas, http://www.glendaleteas.com/index. 1.10.2019 php?route=common/home and Glenworth Estate Li- 12 Fairtrade Finland, Mirka Kartano, email on 13.9.2019 mited, R. Rajkumar, email on 25.9.2019

6 which approximately half was exported. Wages are not suffi cient to adequately The company has been Fairtrade certifi ed cover the cost of basic necessities since 1994 and is also certifi ed by Rainforest Most workers at all three estates said that Alliance and UTZ. United Nilgiri Tea Estates they were paid Rs. 310 per day (4 euros18). did not provide information to Finnwatch on Workers reported no difference in daily pay 16 its sales of certifi ed tea. on the basis of employment type (i.e. per- The Rainforest Alliance publishes the sum- manent or casual employment) or between maries of its audit reports. The Craigmore local recruits and migrants. The daily wage Plantations and United Nilgiri Tea Estates remained the same also regardless of a were last audited by the Rainforest Alliance worker’s length of service. A daily wage of in February 2019, while the Glenworth Estate Rs. 310 is in line with the settlement agree- was audited in January 2019. According ment between the local plantation sector’s to public audit report summaries, all three employers and employees’ representatives, estates comply fully with the Rainforest which is valid from July 2017 until the end of Alliance criteria related to labour rights. June 202119. It comprises a basic wage of Rs. Fairtrade and UTZ do not make their audit 191 per day and a dearness allowance (infl a- reports or summaries public. However, with tion adjustment) that is revised every three the permission of United Nilgiri Tea Estates months. The daily wage of Rs. 310 is barely & Company Ltd, Fairtrade shared a summary higher than the Tamil Nadu government- of the non-compliances detected during its stipulated minimum wage for plantation most recent audits at the United Nilgiri Tea workers20. Estates with Finnwatch. According to most of the workers inter- Both the Glenworth Estate and United Nilgiri viewed for this report, tea workers have to Tea Estates are included on the list of India’s pluck a minimum of 35 kilos of tea leaves per 50 largest tea exporters.17 day. Some casual workers reported higher daily targets. This is in line with previous studies which have noted how casual labour WORKING AND LIVING CONDITIONS AT is engaged in constant negotiations with TEA PLANTATIONS IN THE NILGIRIS plantation management on the actual quota According to the fi eld research fi ndings on they must pluck in order to be paid their daily the Craigmore Plantations, Glendale Estate wage in full21. In their responses, both the and United Nilgiri Tea Estates, the working Craigmore Plantations and United Nilgiri Tea and living conditions at all three estates are Estates denied that plucking targets were in largely similar and therefore, they are all dis- use at their estates. cussed together below. During fi eld research, Generally, workers said they meet or even several local Finnwatch contact points and exceed the daily plucking target. For anything trade union representatives expressed sur- above 35 kilos, workers are paid a piece-rate prise at Finnwatch wanting to conduct research on these specifi c plantations, as it was generally believed that working and 18 1 INR = 0,0126 EUR 19 Memorandum of settlement under section 18(1) of living conditions on plantations geared the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Arrived on 29th May towards the export market are better than on 2017 at Gudalur plantations geared towards India’s domestic 20 The minimum wage for plantation workers in the State of Tamil Nadu was last revised in 2017. The markets. basic wage for tea plantation workers is Rs. 183.50 per day; in other words, the collective agreement wages are a mere Rs. 7.5 higher than the minimum wage. The calculation method for the dearness al- 16 United Nilgiri Tea, Annual Report 2018, availab- lowance is the same as in the settlement agree- le at http://unitednilgiritea.com/wp-content/uplo- ment between local plantation sector employers ads/2018/07/UNTEA-Annual-Report-2018-Final.pdf and employees’ representatives. For more informa- and United Nilgiri Tea Estates, D. Hedge, email on tion see http://cms.tn.gov.in/sites/default/fi les/go/ 26.9.2019 labemp_e_59_2017_2D.pdf 17 , Top 50 Exporters during 2018-19, 21 See e.g. Selvaraj, M.S. and S. Gopalakrishnan, 2016, available at http://www.teaboard.gov.in/pdf/Top_50_ Nightmares of an agricultural capitalist economy: Tea Exporters_during_2018_19_pdf1886.pdf plantation workers in the Nilgiris 7 Tea plantation workers typically live in so-called line houses on the estates. Many line houses are in poor state of maintenance. Workers at Craig- more Plantations have attempted to fi x leaking roofs with plastic sheets.

based incentive. In its response, the United nearly all had borrowed money from their Nilgiri Tea Estates clarifi ed that the plucking relatives or neighbours or taken out a bank incentive (as per the collective agreement) loan. Not all interviewees were willing to dis- is Rs. 0.60 up to 41 kilos, Rs. 1 up to 56 kilos, close their reasons for taking out loans, but and Rs. 1.5 from 57 kilos onwards. the most commonly cited reasons by those who did included their children’s vocational Interviewed workers reported signifi cant or other higher education and medical emer- variation in their monthly take home pay. The gencies. In their responses, all the estates lowest quoted fi gures were Rs. 4,000 per noted that they provide free medical care month and the highest Rs. 9,000 per month to their workers, arguing that, therefore, (51.8–116.7 euros). The average estimated workers need not spend their own money take-home pay of the interviewed workers on health care. However, the Craigmore was Rs. 7,650 at the Craigmore Plantations, Plantations also said that the company pro- Rs. 6,450 at the Glenworth Estate, and Rs. vided interest free loans to its workers for the 5,500 at the United Nilgiri Tea Estates. In its aforementioned purposes23. Medical facili- response, the Glenworth Estate noted that ties available on the estates are discussed in the amount each worker is paid per month more detail below (see p. 14). is greatly infl uenced by the number of days workers report to work. At the Glenworth The United Nilgiri Tea Estates also mentioned Estate, the worker absenteeism rate is about that it provides fi nancial support towards the 25 percent. Other studies have noted that education of its workers’ children. In practice, absenteeism is a “persistent problem” for this means education grants funded from almost all tea producers in India, which the Fairtrade premiums. Currently, 85 youngsters studies attributed to the arduous nature of who are training to be engineers and nurses, work on tea plantations, the poor health of benefi t from these grants, which are used to workers and low wages, which lead to a need cover expenses such as tuition. The workers to supplement family income22. According to interviewed for this report mentioned such the Glenworth Estate, absenteeism is mainly education grants as one of the benefi ts of the due to the workers’ alcoholism. plantation’s Fairtrade certifi cation. However, they also alleged that there was plenty of The vast majority of the interviewees con- favouritism in the allocation of these grants sidered their take-home pay insuffi cient to (see p. 18). meet their own and their families’ needs and

22 See e.g. Fairtrade (in collaboration with the Lab and 23 None of the interviewees at Craigmore Plantations ILO), Improving conditions in tea plantations in Assam mentioned company provided loans.

8 Most tea workers found it diffi cult to obtain a bank loan without their estate manage- Migrant workers at Tamil Nadu’s ment acting as a guarantor for the loan. In tea plantations hail from poverty practice, this means that loan repayment Migrants working at Nilgiris tea planta- arrangements are often also handled by the tions most commonly hail from Jharkhand management and deducted directly from the in Northern India. Jharkhand is one of workers’ salaries. Loan repayments are noted the poorest states in India. Almost 40 in workers’ payslips, but the interest paid on percent of the population in Jharkhand the loan is not mentioned separately, and the lives below the poverty line. Poverty is interviewed workers had no knowledge of more pronounced in the rural areas where the interest rate they were paying on their more than 60 percent of children are loans. Previous studies have observed that underweight, and more than 70 percent tea workers often paid high interest rates on are anaemic.27 More than 5 percent of the their loans, and high interest rates have even working age population migrate annually been noted as one form of labour exploitation to other states in India in search of em- at tea plantations24. ployment opportunities.28 Factors related to a workers’ personal situa- tion (such as loan repayments, how many Previous studies have noted an increase days they have worked on or how many in the volume of migrant labour from kilos of tea leaves they have plucked) greatly Jharkhand at Tamil Nadu’s tea plantations. impact the worker’s take-home pay and Migrant labour is needed as the local tea partly explain the variation in the sums labour force is ageing and the younger reported by the interviewed workers. generation is not interested in seeking employment in the sector due to its low There is no applicable estimate for a living wages, lack of any promotion opportuni- wage in the Nilgiris tea sector25. On average, ties and the low social status of plantation interviewees estimated that monthly work29. In the interview sample for this earnings of approximately Rs. 16,000 (207.4 report, the average age of migrant workers euros) would be suffi cient for them to provide was 28 and that of local tea workers was nutritious food to their family and to pay for 44. their children’s education and marriage26, and to put aside some savings for old age. In its response, the Glenworth Estate noted that if plantations were to raise salaries, the conse- quences would be “catastrophic” for planta- tion companies. According to the Glenworth Estate, the estate’s current salaries already account for 70 percent of its production costs. The Craigmore Plantations reported that salaries accounted for 60 percent of its production costs, and that plantations are struggling to survive, because European buyers continue to dump tea prices from one 27 Government of Jharkhand, Eliminating Pover- ty: Creating jobs and strengthening social pro- grams, available at https://niti.gov.in/writeread- 24 Genevieve LeBaron, 2018, The Global Business of For- data/fi les/Jharkhand%20presentation.pdf ced Labour 28 The Times of India, 10.2.2017, Migration from 25 Global Living Wage Coalition is however, in the Jharkhand highest in country: Economic survey, process of calculating one, for more informati- https://timesofi ndia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/ on see https://www.globallivingwage.org/get- migration-from-state-highest-in-country-econo- involved/#inprogress (viewed on 14.8.2019) mic-survey/articleshow/57070016.cms (viewed 26 Despite dowry being illegal in India, a number of fami- on 26.6.2019) lies continue the tradition of the bride’s parents pro- 29 Lalitha N., V. Nelson, A. Martin and H. Posthu- viding the groom’s family with substantial sums of mus, 2013, Assessing the poverty impact of sus- money at the event of marriage. tainability standards, Indian tea

9 year to the next. Furthermore, the company These deductions are all legal when workers questioned whether plantations can be have provided their consent. required to pay living wages to workers when At United Nilgiri Tea Estates, some workers they also provide so many in-kind benefi ts to reported deductions of Rs. 20 (0.25 euros) their workforce. However, living wage calcu- from their salaries towards housing which lations normally do take in-kind benefi ts into should be free of charge, and towards union account. membership (Rs. 8, or 0.1 euros), even though Of the interviewees, generally only migrant they claimed not to be union members (see workers expressed satisfaction with their p. 16). In its response, the United Nilgiri Tea current income levels. Migrant workers could Estates denied any deductions towards only be interviewed for this report at the housing. Craigmore Plantations, and these migrant workers also reported the highest levels of Long working hours without overtime pay income among all interviewees in the Nilgiris. A normal working day at all three estates Migrant workers are relatively young com- is 9 hours long including a one-hour lunch pared to other tea workers meaning that break. According to the interviewees, they they tend to have fewer health issues than did not have any other breaks during the day. workers, who have worked on tea estates Workers have the day off on Sundays. for much longer. They usually work very hard; they are also encouraged by the manage- In practice though, tea workers often work ment, in particular, to work hard. The migrant longer hours. According to the interviewees, workers interviewed for this report during the the amount of extra hours they put in varies fi eld research also stated that social secu- from season to season. During peak season, rity contributions were not deducted from several said that they might work as many as their salaries. In its response, the Craigmore 12 hours per day. This includes casual sea- Plantations denied this. Migrant workers at sonal workers at the United Nilgiri Tea Estates the plantation whom Finnwatch contacted who otherwise reported 5-hour working again in autumn 2019 confi rmed that at least days. Workers at all three estates also said some have since had statutory social security that during peak season, they often work contributions deducted from their salaries. on Sundays without the weekly rest day. According to one interviewee, “for the last In addition to statutory deductions such as two months, I have been working every single deductions for social security (Provident day. We are working all the time.” The number Fund, PF30), deductions from workers’ wages of working hours reported by workers during included trade union subscriptions, and, if the peak season was illegally high32. workers lived on the estate (which nearly all did), electricity. Several workers also reported None of the interviewees for this report were deductions towards a life insurance scheme able to explain how they were compensated (Life Insurance Company of India, LIC31). for the extra hours they put in, or for Sunday work. However, they had a clear under- 30 State administered Provident Fund (PF) is an impor- standing that the extra hours that they put tant component of India’s social security system. Both in working in the tea fi elds were, in general, the employer and the employee contribute a percen- tage of the workers’ salary to the workers PF account. not considered overtime, which they should Workers can access funds on their PF account under lawfully be paid for at twice the normal rate. certain circumstances e.g. to buy a house/land, to build or renovate their house, to pay back mortgage, It appears that tea fi eld workers were paid in the event of marriage, for some educational pur- compensation for the extra hours they put in poses, and prior to retirement. For more information see http://epfi ndia.gov.in/site_en/index. php. Another common statutory deduction to workers’ salaries in 32 According to the Plantation Labour Act (Chapter V) the India is the Employee State Insurance (ESI) contributi- normal working hours for a plantation worker must on. However, as there is no ESI hospital in the Nilgiris, not exceed 48 hours per week, and working hours in- no ESI deductions are made from tea workers’ sala- cluding overtime must not exceed 54 hours per week. ries in the area. The law also restricts working hours per day to 9 31 For more information see https://www.licindia.in hours.

10 at the same piece-rate as they are for over- According to a summary of the non-com- quota kilos. Most commonly, only tea factory pliances found during the most recent workers are considered to work overtime for Fairtrade audits at the United Nilgiri Tea which the plantation companies said they are Estates, some workers on the plantation compensated in line with the law. worked consecutively for more than six days. Fairtrade standards allow such practices but All interviewees at the Craigmore Plantations, only in exceptional circumstances and only 12 out of 20 interviewees at the Glenworth if the tea plantation has applied for a tempo- Estate and 9 out of 20 interviewees at the rary extension of working hours in advance. United Nilgiri Tea Estates felt that they In its response to Fairtrade, the United Nilgiri could not refuse to work longer hours or on Tea Estates confi rmed that the practice was Sundays. They reported that if they did not limited only to production peaks and that, comply with the management or their super- in the future, it would seek permission in visor’s orders, their wages could be reduced, advance. their working hours might not be recorded properly, they might be denied work the next day or entries in their plucking cards, or they Lack of clarity with regard to annual leave might not be granted (sick)leave when they and sick leave wanted or needed it. At the United Nilgiri Tea Although the majority of permanent Estates, three additional workers said that workers interviewed at both the Craigmore even though they were not compelled to Plantations and Glenworth Estate said that work extra, it was in “their own interest” to they were given 14 days of paid annual leave, do so, as their wages were otherwise so low. it was clear from the interviews that there was considerable confusion among workers It is not clear from the interviews or from at all three estates about workers’ rights to the documentary evidence collected during annual leave and sick leave. At the United the fi eld research (such as copies of pay- Nilgiri Tea Estates, the majority of permanent slips) if the consequences described by the workers said they were entitled to 12 days of interviewed workers are “mere” threats that annual leave. Pursuant to legislation, workers were used to push them to work harder should be entitled to 1 day of annual leave or if they were actually also put into prac- per every 20 days of work33. The amount of tice. In their responses, all three estates annual leave is therefore contingent on the denied that workers were pressured or number of days worked by the worker but compelled to work extra hours as well as should generally be about 15 days per year. the consequences described by workers. However, numerous interviewees’ had the The Glenworth Estate and United Nilgiri Tea understanding that they “work all the time” Estates also claimed that tea fi eld workers and that they were not given any paid leave did not work any extra hours or on Sundays. (“no work, no pay”). The Craigmore Plantations said that during harvest season workers are sometimes According to Tamil Nadu’s state rules, asked to work on Sundays, but that Sunday workers should also be able to take 14 days work was completely voluntary. On Sunday, of sick leave each year for which they are the working day is 5 hours long and it is paid two-thirds of their normal income34. compensated for as overtime. In addition, However, the interviewees at all three plan- the company noted that workers’ claims tations claimed that sick leave was not that salaries had been cut could also be always granted on the basis of how sick they due to workers not understanding their pay were but largely on the basis of favouritism. slips. Both the Craigmore Plantations and Most commonly, the interviewed permanent Glenworth Estate also noted that workers are workers said that sick leave was paid for a “encouraged” to report to work regularly and period of only three days at a time and at half to work as “diligently” as possible. 33 Plantation Labour Act, 1951, Chapter VI 34 Tamil Nadu Plantation Labour Rules, 1955, Chapter VI

11 the normal pay rate. The majority of workers Other occupational health hazards cited by from the United Nilgiri Tea Estates, said they the interviewees included are given only 7 days of paid sick leave. • heavy lifting (workers must carry heavy The interviewed migrant workers at the bags full of tea leaves; some agrochemical Craigmore Plantations and the seasonal containers are also heavy), workers at the Glenworth Estate said that • use of hazardous machines (especially they are not entitled to any paid annual leave hand-held trimmers used to trim tea bushes or paid sick leave. The interviewed migrant were said to expose workers to vibration workers said that although they could return and be diffi cult to handle), to their home state once a year or take time off when they were sick, they were not paid • and exposure to the elements such as during that time. At the United Nilgiri Tea heavy, daily rain during the monsoon Estates, about half of the interviewed sea- season and freezing cold weather in the sonal workers said they were entitled to paid winter. Coonoor gets about 1,500 mm sick leave but not to any paid annual leave. rain per year, mostly during the months of October and November36. In their responses, all three estates claimed to comply with annual leave and sick leave Interviewees, who worked in tea fi elds e.g. legislation and stated that if leave was not plucking tea leaves, said that they are not taken workers were compensated for this in provided rain gear or long-sleeved jackets lieu. The estates also denied all allegations by their employer and instead had to pur- of favouritism in the allocation of paid sick chase these themselves. To protect them- leave and that migrant workers and seasonal selves from the rain, workers typically used workers were treated differently from others. two plastic sheets that they tied around their The Craigmore Plantations and Glenworth head and around their waist. The cost of such Estate reported that they even paid the travel plastic sheets at the local market was about fares of migrant workers when they returned Rs. 250 (3.2 euros). to their home states once a year. In its response, the United Nilgiri Tea Estates claimed that it had provided workers rain Shortcomings in OHS gear free of charge. The United Nilgiri Tea The most common OHS hazards reported by Estates also said that the tea gardens had the workers interviewed for this report were tractors for moving heavier items and, there- animal attacks by gaurs (Indian bison), sloth fore, workers were not required to carry bears, leopards, snakes and wild dogs35. At heavy loads. They also stated that as approxi- their worst, animal attacks can be fatal to mately 70–75 percent of its tea gardens were tea workers. According to the Nilgiri Estates dedicated to organic farming, they used Workers Union, examples of safety measures very few chemicals. However, according to that could be introduced to protect workers workers, tractors could only drive along roads from such attacks include fencing. However, whereas workers could work several hundred in spite of demands from workers, such meters from the roads and because of this, measures have yet to be implemented. they were still required to carry heavy loads. In its response, the United Nilgiri Tea Estates Several interviewees at the Craigmore stated that workers always worked in groups Plantation mentioned a recent case involving and denied that animal attacks were a signifi - the death of a 56-year-old male tea worker, cant health hazard at tea plantations. who had been tasked with maintenance work that involved heavy lifting e.g. removing stones. Once he was allowed to take a break,

36 Shyamali Ghosh, 21.2.2011, Glendale Tea Estate, Coo- 35 Tea gardens are vast open areas where wild animals noor, India. World Tea News, https://worldteanews. can roam free. Only staff and workers’ living quarters com/tea-industry-news-and-features/glendale-tea-es- are guarded. tate-coonoor-india (viewed on 28.6. 2019)

12 he complained of chest pains. He was fi rst glyphosate under certain conditions while taken to the garden hospital, and from there, supervised40. In its response, the Craigmore to a government hospital but died on the Plantations denied the use of 2.4-D, whereas way. It was later confi rmed he had had a Glenworth Estate noted that only growth heart attack, and this was also confi rmed as stimulants are used at its tea gardens and no his cause of death. His family had reportedly pesticides at all. The United Nilgiri Tea Estates received the funds deposited in his Provident noted that because 70–75 % of its production Fund account and also his gratuity payment is certifi ed as organic, the use of fertilisers (a lump sum paid to a worker at the end of and pesticides in its tea gardens is minimal. their tenure, usually upon retirement; the Workers at all three estates tasked with sum depends on a worker’s years of service using agrochemicals said that they had not and fi nal salary). However, the law stipulates received thorough training in their use or the family is also entitled to compensation37, the necessary precautions. They had simply which they had yet to receive. According to been shown by either their supervisor or col- the interviewees, the family did not know leagues how to mix and apply them. Despite that they were entitled to compensation until this, several of them stressed how impor- the union told them this. In its response, the tant it was to wear a mask and gloves when Craigmore Plantations denied any knowledge handling chemicals. As such, workers appear of this case. Finnwatch has copies of the aware of at least the most basic precautions. man’s death certifi cate and other documents At all three estates, all workers tasked with related to the case. spraying agrochemicals said that they are A 2010 amendment to India’s Plantation provided shared (i.e. not personal) protective Labour Act strengthened OHS protections of equipment and that some of this equipment workers tasked with handling insecticides, was in poor condition. Workers were able chemicals and toxic substances. It requires to wash after they had completed spraying estates to provide workers tasked with the work, but according to the interviewees, use of these substances training on the at least the Craigmore Plantations did not involved hazards, periodic medical checks, necessarily provide soap, only water. washing and bathing facilities and PPE38. In their responses, all three plantations said Certifi cation schemes also have several that workers are given regular training on the requirements in place regarding pesticide safe use of agrochemicals and all the neces- use. sary PPE for their personal use. Such PPE is According to the interviewed workers, fer- regularly checked and cleaned. Workers have tilisers such as urea and potassium are the possibility to wash with hot water and used on all three tea plantations. In addi- soap at all estates including the Craigmore tion, workers at the Craigmore Plantations Plantations, and they underwent regular named two herbicides, 2.4-D and a glypho- medical checks. In its response, the United sate Glycel, that are used at the plantation Nilgiri Tea Estates also mentioned that its tea to kill weeds. According to United Nilgiri Tea gardens have a Health and Safety Committee Estates workers, the estate also uses 2.4-D. that meets regularly. However, none of the At Glenworth Estate, interviewed workers interviewees appeared to be aware of the were not able to name any pesticides, insec- existence of such a committee. According ticides or herbicides used there. 2.4-D is to a summary of the non-compliances found considered to have generally low toxicity during the United Nilgiri Tea Estates’ most for humans whereas glyphosate is possibly recent Fairtrade audits, Fairtrade has also carcinogenic39. Both the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade permit the use of 2.4-D and 40 For more information see Rainforest Alliance, Lists for pesticide management v. 1.3, available at https:// 37 Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 www. rainforest-alliance.org/business/wp-content/ 38 Plantations Labour (Amendment) Act, 2010 uplo- ads/2017/11/02_lists-pesticides-management_ 39 See e.g. Maaseudun tulevaisuus, 29.1.2018, Luotta- en.pdf and Fairtrade, Hazardous materials list, v. 1.0, mus torjunta-aineisiin vähä inen – EU-parlamenttiin available at https://fi les.fairtrade.net/standards/Ha- uusi valiokunta, https://www.maaseuduntulevaisuus. zardous_Materials_List_EN.pdf fi /politiikka/artikkeli-1.222409 13 noted shortcomings in the provided PPE and The company also denied workers’ allega- their condition in the past. tions of inadequate medical services. Interviewees at the Craigmore Plantations Medical facilities do not meet workers’ and the Glenworth Estate said that they needs sought treatment for chronic problems from According to the interviewees, colds, coughs, private hospitals or public health centres in chest pain and fever are all common among nearby towns. The unions have estimated the plantation population. Most interviewees that tea workers spend around Rs. 2,000 also complained about various kinds of bodily (25.9 euros) each month on medical care, pains – back pain, leg pain, chest pain – and including but not limited to travel costs, joint pains. Anaemia and malnutrition were hospital fees and medicines. Workers must also said to be common particularly among also pay for getting any medical tests done, women and children. even at government-run clinics. As noted above, plantation companies claimed that Under the Plantation Labour Act, tea planta- they provided free-of-charge medical care tions are required to provide certain medical to their workers, eliminating the need for facilities and services for their workers. These their workers to spend their own money on must cover basic health care, infectious medical care. However, it is clear that the diseases, a maternity ward and pre- and post- medical services available on plantations are natal care41. In addition, plantations must not suffi cient to meet workers’ needs. have their own dispensaries (pharmacy). Although all three plantations had at least Unlike the other plantations, the United Nilgiri the minimum statutory services in place, Tea Estates has a large hospital facility, which the interviewees at the Glenworth Estate is also used by people who do not work on said that the estate hospital did not func- the plantation but live nearby. According tion properly, at least not at the time of the to the interviewees, the hospital operates fi eld research. In its response, the Glenworth well, has an abundant staff who are always Estate denied this and stated that the estate available and that “all kinds of conditions are had fully functioning medical facilities, an treated there”. The medical facilities at the ambulance service and a pharmacy and, in United Nilgiri Tea Estates appear to stand out addition to this, e.g. cancer screenings were from others, and interviewees at the United organised from time to time. Nilgiri Tea Estates did not report a similar need to spend personal fi nances on health The Craigmore Plantations workers inter- care as interviewees from the other estates viewed for this report also found the provided did. medical services lacking with regard to their needs. They stated that the services provided only comprised simple fi rst-aid even though Leaking roofs and clogged toilets the hospital there was said to be operating Plantation employers have a statutory obli- effectively. The plantation also has a statu- gation to provide and maintain rent-free tory maternity ward and pre- and post-natal housing for their workers and their workers’ care, as well as an ambulance and dispen- families. Tea workers typically live in so-called sary. According to workers, they needed line houses on the estates. Line houses are permission to use the estate ambulance, somewhat like rowhouses. A typical line which often caused signifi cant delays. Its use house comprises six rooms in which one could even be denied. In its response, the family lives. Each family also typically has Craigmore Plantations defended the need for their own kitchen and a toilet. In some cases, prior approval from management for the use toilets are located a short distance from the of the estate ambulance to avoid its misuse. line house. When a tea worker ceases to work on an estate, the accommodation that was 41 Tamil Nadu Plantation Labour Rules, 1955, Chapter III

14 previously in his or her name will be trans- monitored and regular tests are performed ferred to another member of their family, it at all three plantations. The United Nilgiri Tea they have a family member who will continue Estates also said that water is fi ltered at the to work on the estate42. Coupled with very plantation. However, in the workers’ living low wages and the tea workers’ subsequent quarters water pipes can still be located near inability to save money for housing outside open drainage gutters, which increases the plantations, this rule has effectively forced risk of waterborne diseases. many tea workers and their families to work At the Craigmore Plantations, some inter- on particular tea estates for generations. At viewees complained of a temporary scarcity both the Glenworth Estate and the United of water, which resulted in workers having Nilgiri Tea Estates, some interviewees lived in to resort to collecting water from nearby single-family detached houses built under a streams. government housing scheme for people living below the poverty line. The line houses on all three estates were in poor condition. Nearly all the interviewees The Tamil Nadu state regulations specify that on the Craigmore Plantations claimed that all line houses must be painted regularly and their houses had not been regularly painted that they must have toilets, drinking water or repaired. A few complained, in particu- and electric lighting43. All the interviewees lar, about damaged or leaking roofs. Workers at all three estates had private toilets and had attempted to fi x these leaks them- washing facilities. All the interviewees also selves using the same kind of plastic sheets had electric lighting and TVs44 in their homes. that they tied on their waists when it rains. At the Craigmore Plantations, 5 out of the The majority of workers who lived in line 20 interviewees also had fans and 1 had a houses on the Glenworth Estate also said the refrigerator. At the Glenworth Estate, all the houses were very old and not maintained or interviewees had fans and 3 out of 20 had painted regularly. They claimed to carry out refrigerators. At United Nilgiri Tea Estates, 15 some maintenance at their own expense. At out of 20 interviewees had fans but none had the United Nilgiri Tea Estates, a number of a refrigerator. workers claimed their toilets were clogged Only a handful of workers at any of the three and could not be used. estates had electric heaters, and, thus, most In their responses, all three estates claimed made do without any heating. When tem- to regularly maintain workers’ housing and peratures drop close to zero Celsius, these that workers were not required to carry out workers and their family members keep a or pay for maintenance themselves. The constant supply of warm drinking water to Craigmore Plantations claimed to give fami- keep warm. lies “generous sums (of money)” towards All three plantations had communal water paint but added that families were required pipes in their workers’ living quarters. to paint their houses themselves in order to Although piped water is purifi ed at the prevent thefts. The company painted doors municipal waterworks facility, the water and windows, and workers were required supply to communities across India routinely to sign paperwork to confi rm that painting get contaminated via sewage leakage or has been carried out appropriately. Both the storm water. Therefore, it is recommended Craigmore Plantations and the Glenworth to boil piped water before use. According Estate also mentioned that they maintained to the plantation companies, water purity is a system that allows workers to lodge com- plaints of all kinds on housing issues. A 42 Plantations Labour Act, 1951, Chapter IV. See also similar grievance mechanism is also one of Tamil Nadu Plantation Labour Rules, 1955, Chapter IV the requirements for Fairtrade certifi cation. In 43 Tamil Nadu Plantation Labour Rules, 1955, Chapter IV. 44 It should be noted that TVs for example, have in the addition, the Glenworth Estate further men- past been distributed for free by the government of tioned that workers are provided training on Tamil Nadu to Public Distribution System card holders. hygiene and that the plantation had provided This has been attributed to populist policies.

15 workers with smokeless chulhas (cooking This is in line with previous studies, which stoves) to ensure their homes remained have also found no signs of discrimination e.g. smoke-free while cooking. Traditional chulhas, towards migrant workers at Tamil Nadu’s tea which are made from mud, emit a great deal plantations48. Of course, the vast majority of of smoke and, due to the poor ventilation in the plantation labour force are themselves workers’ homes, can cause eye irritation and members of the Dalits and Adivasis groups, breathing issues. which face systematic discrimination in India and are generally poorer than other popula- As previously mentioned, some of the inter- tion groups. viewees at the United Nilgiri Tea Estates who lived in line houses claimed that a Rs. 20 According to the interviewed workers, there deduction was made from their salaries for was also no child labour on any of the three housing. In its response, the United Nilgiri Tea plantations. As the local population Estates denied charging workers any money prefer to send their children to study other for housing. occupations instead of taking up work at tea plantations, the youngest workers at tea As per the interviewees’ testimony, they plantations in the Nilgiris tend to be migrant ate three home-cooked meals a day45. workers49. As noted in some previous studies, Interviewees estimated that, on average, they it is a relatively new phenomenon that tea spent around Rs. 3,000 (38.7 euros) on food workers in the Nilgiris are able to send their for their entire family each month. Families children to study outside the estates 50. Based buy food stuff from government-run “ration on interviews for this report, families can only shops” located on the estates. These shops afford to do so if they take out loans specifi - supply food stuff and certain other supplies cally for this purpose. Educational grants and to the poor at subsidised prices. scholarship programmes such as the one The food consumed by tea workers is often funded with Fairtrade premiums at the United of low nutritional value. Several of the inter- Nilgiri Tea Estates are exceptions which only a viewees for this report expressed great few have access to. interest in receiving further information India’s legislation requires that all estates that and training on (occupational) health issues employ fi fty or more women must provide and nutrition. Generally speaking, anaemia and maintain a creche51. Finnwatch was resulting from malnutrition is common, espe- unable to assess the quality of the creche ser- cially among children and the female popu- vices provided on the three estates as only a lation at India’s tea estates. It has been few people in the interview sample had chil- observed that women workers, who took iron dren in these. The same applies to primary and folic acid tablets, increased their produc- schools for 6–12-year-old children at the tivity by 10 kilos of green leaves plucked46. In estates. its response, the Craigmore Plantation stated that the plantation provides iron and folic In their responses, all three estates claimed acid supplements to its workers47 and that to have good creche facilities and primary workers are tested for anaemia twice a year. schools and the Craigmore Plantations even stated that their creche facility was an indus- No child labour nor discrimination try benchmark. The Craigmore Plantations further commented that they had donated Workers interviewed for this report reported 10 hectares of land to the government where that they had not experienced or observed middle and high schools were now located. discrimination at the plantations in general. The children of plantation workers have

45 There are no company canteens on the estates. Some 48 See e.g. Lalitha et al, Assessing the poverty impact of plantation companies give contracts to private parties sustainability standards: Indian tea to run canteens inside the estates. At these canteens, 49 According to some interviewees, migrant workers have food is sold at market rates and there is no subsidy. to be at least 20 years old to be employed at the plan- 46 Ethical Tea Partnership, Team up India: Challenges, op- tations. portunities, and ways forward for the Indian tea in- 50 See e.g. Selvaraj, M.S. and S. Gopalakrishnan, 2016, dustry Nightmares of an agricultural capitalist economy: Tea 47 None of the interviewees mentioned receiving such plantation workers in the Nilgiris 16 supplements. 51 Plantations Labour Act, 1951, Chapter IV access to these schools and are served a free them and pay them each Rs. 25 000 (322.6 mid-day meal during their school day. The euros) in compensation. However, according United Nilgiri Tea Estates also has a middle to interviewees, the company has appealed school, in addition to primary schools. the case in a higher court and, at the time this report was written, the workers had yet Estates have numerous trade unions but to be reinstated or compensated. In India, also anti-union activities court battles can take many years, which in itself can discourage some workers from Several trade unions were present at all three seeking justice. In this case, however, the estates. The Craigmore Plantations recog- court found that the workers had been slow nises two trade unions: Tamil Nadu Thotta to respond and, therefore, the compensation Thozhilalar Munnetra Sangam and the Nilgiris they were awarded was relatively small com- District Estate Workers Union. The Glenworth pared to the length of their dismissal. In its Estate recognises three unions: the Indian response, the Craigmore Plantations denied National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), the any knowledge of the case or the related Tamil Nadu Plantation Labour Progressive court order. Finnwatch has a copy of the Union and Anna Thotta Thozhilalar Sangam. court ruling. The United Nilgiri Tea Estates recognises Anna Thotta Thozhilalar Sangam, the Labour As already mentioned, all the United Nilgiri Progressive Federation and the INTUC. Tea Estate workers interviewed for this report said that union subscriptions were deducted Interviewees were of the opinion that of from their salaries even though they did not the plantation unions only the CITU was believe they had joined a union. Finnwatch genuinely representative of workers interests. considers it possible that these workers have Out of the three estates covered in this been added as members to management report, only the Craigmore Plantations has recognised unions without their knowledge. workers who are member of the CITU (but In its response, the Rainforest Alliance noted the number of CITU members at Craigmore that the plantation management could Plantations is on the decline). The manage- usually only make deductions for union sub- ment at the Craigmore Plantations does not scriptions if the unions could provide the recognise the CITU, and, according to inter- plantation signed consent from workers. viewed workers who were CITU members themselves and CITU offi cials, the estate management even undertakes anti-union Benefi ts of certifi cation schemes vary activities targeting CITU members. CITU from the viewpoint of workers members were, for example, said to be trans- All the estates discussed in this report are ferred to new positions for which they do certifi ed by at least one major social sus- not have the necessary skills or training, tainability certifi cation scheme. The majority and, if they refuse to take these positions, of permanent workers interviewed at the they can be suspended without pay. A com- Craigmore Plantations and the United Nilgiri monly cited example of this was the case Tea Estates were aware that these two plan- of an allegedly illegal dismissal of 6 CITU tations were certifi ed, while none of the members about 10 years ago. At the time, Glenworth Estate workers who were inter- the affected workers complained about their viewed knew that the estate was certifi ed. At dismissal to the labour offi ce, but as there United Nilgiri Tea Estates, all the interviewees was no progress, in 2009 they took their case who were unaware of the estate’s certifi ca- to a labour court. The workers obtained a tion were casual workers. Although applica- favourable decision from the court in 201852, ble certifi cation scheme logos are typically and the company was ordered to reinstate displayed on various sign boards around the estates, workers did not necessarily recog- 52 Additional Labour Court, , Industrial Dis- nise them. Previous studies have also found putes Nos. 144/2009, 145/2009, 146/2009, 147/2009, 148/2009 and 149/2009, ruling dated 12.2.2018 that the understanding tea workers have of

17 certifi cation schemes and their participation the interviewees were unable to tell the dif- in the schemes are generally lacking. This ference between different types of auditors is sometimes believed to contribute to the (e.g. buyers’ own visits/audits vs. certifi ers) patronage between tea workers and estate and none of them had even been interviewed management, which has its roots in the colo- by an auditor. According to certifi cation nial era, and still exists today. This is evident, schemes, audits include confi dential inter- for example, when tea workers attribute the views with staff members and tea workers. benefi ts fi nanced by certifi cation scheme Auditors often speak the local language and premiums to the benevolence of the manage- are specifi cally trained and instructed to per- ment rather than the certifi cation scheme53. sonally choose interviewees and never inter- Increasing the participation of both workers view workers suggested or brought to them and their representatives in certifi cation by the management. schemes would be one possible solution Workers also generally cannot tell the to this54. It also appears to be necessary as various certifi cation schemes apart and have even workers who were interviewed for this no knowledge of the requirements these report and who were aware of certifi cation schemes have set for sustainable produc- said that they themselves had nothing to do tion or their benefi ts. Only at United Nilgiri with the certifi cation schemes. None of the Tea Estates about half of the interviewees interviewed union representatives at local, reported that they were aware of positive state or national level also had ever had any impacts of the tea estate’s Fairtrade certi- contact with any of the estates’ certifi ers. fi cation from their point of view. According In its response, the Craigmore Plantations to these interviewees, Fairtrade helps the said that numerous meetings with trade estate’s poorest families fi nancially and in unions and workers were held at the getting their children, for example, a voca- estate, and information about certifi cation tional education. However, according to these was shared during these. The Glenworth workers there is considerable favouritism in Estate expressed surprise at its workers the allocation of the benefi t and only a few not being aware of the estate being certi- families benefi t from it. As was noted above, fi ed, as the estate has been certifi ed since according to the United Nilgiri Tea Estates, 85 2008. The United Nilgiri Tea Estates men- youngsters currently receive grants from the tioned an existing Fairtrade Committee that scheme. is tasked with informing workers about cer- While this report was being written, tifi cation. According to the summary of non- Finnwatch heard from the United Nilgiri Tea compliances found during the United Nilgiri Estates’ workers that the plantation manage- Tea Estates’ most recent Fairtrade audits, ment had “cheated the workers” and chan- Fairtrade has noticed problems at the estate nelled less Fairtrade premiums to the com- concerning the dissemination of information munity than they should have based on the on certifi cation especially to migrant workers. sales of Fairtrade certifi ed tea. According According to the workers at all three estates, to the summary of non-compliances found auditors visit the estate, including labour during the most recent Fairtrade audits at quarters, talk with the management, write a the United Nilgiri Tea Estates, Fairtrade has report, leave and “then, nothing happens”. also noticed issues related to monitoring This indicates that the workers were unable of Fairtrade sales at the estate, as well as to see any improvement in their working con- in the activities of the Fairtrade Premium ditions as a result of these audits. Usually, Committee and its election. None of the interviewees at either the 53 See e.g. Makita, R. Fair Trade Certifi cation: The Case of Craigmore Plantations or the Glenworth Tea Plantation Workers in India (2012). Development Policy Review 30(1) Estate were able to name any positive 54 See e.g. Siegmann, K.A., Fair Trade as Civic Innovati- impacts of certifi cation schemes. on? The case of tea certifi cation in India. INDIALICS Working Paper No. 2017-02

18 3. India: Assam

METHODOLOGY JALINGA TEA As was the case in the Nilgiris, in Assam, Jalinga Tea was established in 1935. The Jalinga Tea was also selected as the site for Jalinga Tea tea gardens comprise three divi- the fi eld research by comparing supplier sions that are located in the in information provided by Forsman Tea and the of Assam. Jalinga Tea pro- Nordqvist and publicly available information duces both and Assam tea. on the suppliers of other tea brands55. Assam tea is renowned world-wide. Unlike In May–July 2018, Cividep researchers con- in the Nilgiris where tea is grown at high ducted interviews with 20 workers from altitudes in the mountains, in Assam, tea Jalinga Tea. After initial contact, additional is grown in river valleys. A tropical climate, interviewees were identifi ed with a snow- characterised by heavy daily rainfall during ball sampling technique. In addition to inter- the monsoon season, temperatures well views with individuals, focus group discus- above 30 degrees Celsius, and riverbed soil sions were also held in the area. Interviews contribute to the unique malty fl avour of were mostly conducted in Bengali, a lan- Assam tea.56 guage spoken by all the interviewees, and in The Jalinga Tea gardens cover an area of conditions that enabled confi dentiality and 1,644 hectares of which 657 hectares are anonymity. used for cultivation. Jalinga Tea produces During the course of the fi eld research, around 850,000 kilos of tea each year, all the estate management caught wind of it of which is exported. Jalinga Tea is a certi- and demanded the interviews to be halted. fi ed producer of both organic and Rainforest Subsequently, Finnwatch suspended inter- Alliance tea. Jalinga Tea’s Fairtrade certifi - views with workers, as the safety of the inter- cation was suspended in mid-August 2019 viewees and the confi dentiality of the inter- (see more below). According to the company, views could no longer be guaranteed. The it sells approximately 150,000 kilos of tea fi ndings described below are based on data as Rainforest Alliance certifi ed and 150,000 collected up to this point. kilos as Fairtrade certifi ed. From the sales of Fairtrade tea, the company claims to get Both Jalinga Tea and the certifi cation approximately 100,000 USD as Fairtrade schemes that have certifi ed it (Rainforest premiums. The sum is earmarked for social Alliance and Fairtrade) have been able to and economic improvement of the commu- comment on the following fi ndings before nity. Jalinga Tea claims to be the world’s fi rst their publication in line with the Finnwatch carbon neutral tea plantation.57 ethical guidelines. Jalinga Tea was last audited by the Rainforest Alliance in August 2018. The summary of the Table 2: Composition of the interview sample in Assam audit report is available on the Rainforest Jalinga Tea Gender: female/male 2/18 Educational level: secondary/primary/ 6/7/7 none

Type of employment relationship: 10/10 56 Tea Board of India, Assam tea, http://www.teaboard. permanent/casual gov.in/TEABOARDCSM/Ng== (accessed on 14.8.2019) 57 For more information see http://www.jalingatea.com and Jalinga Tea/Fairtrade Finland, Mirka Kartano, email on 27.9.2019. Because Jalinga Tea did not respond to Finnwatch, Finnwatch asked Fairtrade Finland to pass 55 Jalinga Tea is a supplier to Nordqvist and also at least on to Jalinga Tea the fi eld research fi ndings for com- to Clipper and Unilever. It has also been a supplier to ments. Fairtrade Finland shared Jalinga Tea’s response Forsman. with Finnwatch.

19 Jalinga Tea is located in the Cachar region in the Barak Valley in Assam. The estate produces both green tea and Assam tea.

Alliance’s public database58. With the com- In its response, Jalinga Tea admitted that it pany’s permission, Fairtrade shared the full was experiencing challenges but empha- results of the most recent Fairtrade audit at sised that it is committed to making gradual Jalinga Tea with Finnwatch. The results from improvements to meet the certifi cation these audits confi rm several of Finnwatch’s criteria. fi ndings. Audits have found issues with legal compliance as well as compliance with WORKING AND LIVING CONDITIONS other government orders at Jalinga Tea. AT JALINGA TEA, ASSAM For example, according to the Rainforest Alliance’s latest audit report summary, the improvements to statutory maternity benefi ts Wage arrears and problems with social that were introduced in 2017 have not been security implemented at the plantation. Following Tea workers at Jalinga Tea who were inter- the suspension of the plantation’s Fairtrade viewed for this report said that they were certifi cate, it has had time to undertake cor- paid a daily wage of Rs. 115 (1.48 euros), rective actions. If the corrective actions are which is in line with the bilateral agreement not satisfactory the company may lose its between planters and trade unions (see Fairtrade certifi cate completely (decertifi - text box p. 23). In July 2018, after the fi eld cation). According to Fairtrade, Jalinga Tea research for this report had already been has sole responsibility for notifying its buyer completed, the state authorities ordered a Rs. companies on the suspension and corrective 30 increase to tea plantation sector wages. actions59. The order was backdated to March 2018. According to Jalinga Tea, it is now paying its workers Rs. 145 per day accordingly. However, according to the fi ndings of the 58 Rainforest Alliance, Certifi cate Search and Public Sum- most recent Fairtrade audit to Jalinga Tea, maries, https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/ solutions/certifi cation/agriculture/certifi cate- search- Jalinga Tea has not backdated these pay- public-summaries/ (accessed on 10.10.2019) ments to March 2018. 59 Forsman Tea used to buy Fairtrade certifi ed tea from Jalinga Tea but following the suspension of the Even following the Rs. 30 increase, the wages plantation’s certifi cation, ceased purchases from of tea plantation sector workers are still sig- there. According to Forsman, it has received no infor- mation from either Fairtrade or Jalinga Tea about the nifi cantly lower than the lowest minimum non-compliances identifi ed at Jalinga Tea. As such it also has no knowledge of the required corrective ac- tions and claims therefore, to be unable to support its supplier in their implementation. Forsman Tea, Ari Santamäki, phone interview on 13.9.2019

20 wage for agricultural workers in Assam (Rs. if they so wish. In its response, the company 255).60 also noted that workers are only paid for those days on which they report to work and Tea pluckers at the plantation are almost that this partly explains their low earnings. exclusively women. In order for them to be According to the company, absenteeism in paid the full daily wage, they must pluck a the plantation is as high as 50 percent. minimum of 21 kilos of tea leaves. Reaching the target is not diffi cult, and most exceed Although Provident Fund contributions it. Plucked tea leaves are weighed 3 times a are deducted from the plantation workers’ day, and for anything in excess of 21 kilos, tea wages, workers reported delays of up to 5 pluckers are paid a piece-rate. According to months in being able to access the funds on Jalinga Tea, workers pluck an average of 35 their Provident Fund accounts. According kilos a day. to the workers, the delay is intentional and caused by the estate management. Some Workers typically work 8 hours a day, interviewees also reported cases where six days a week. According to the inter- workers had been told to resign from their viewed workers, tea fi eld workers, such jobs so that they could access their Provident as tea pluckers, do not work overtime but Fund savings when they faced medical tea factory workers must sometimes work emergencies instead of being provided free longer hours. Factory workers are compen- medical care or a company-guaranteed bank sated for overtime with double their normal loan for treatment at private hospitals. wage, which is line with the relevant laws. According to Jalinga Tea, there is no over- In its response, Jalinga Tea denied the time at the tea factory and during produc- workers’ claims and said that the company tion peaks, the factory operates in two always processes Provident Fund related shifts. According to the fi ndings of the latest paperwork in a timely manner. The company Fairtrade audit at Jalinga Tea, Jalinga Tea does also noted that it provides workers with free not maintain proper records of overtime. medical care and, therefore, workers do not need to spend their own money in the The majority of tea factory workers are event of medical emergencies. According to men. Men are also engaged in maintenance, the fi ndings from the most recent Fairtrade cutting and trimming trees, preparing and audit to Jalinga Tea, Jalinga Tea does not pay applying compost and organic pesticides and Provident Fund contributions to authorities carrying water. regularly. At the time of the fi eld research, some inter- Workers reported no irregularities in the viewees were still paid in cash although the payment of legally required bonuses or majority had their salaries paid to their bank gratuities. accounts. According to Jalinga Tea, all salaries are paid directly to the workers’ accounts. Wages are not suffi cient to adequately Workers sign a payroll register weekly. cover the cost of basic necessities According to the interviewed workers, only According to the interviewees, their wages Provident Fund is deducted from their salary, are not suffi cient to meet their families’ and their take-home pay in the summer of needs. Among the interview sample, the 2018 was less than Rs. 600 (7.7. euros) per average family size was 6 people. In addition week. The interviewed workers had no pay- to working at the tea plantations, several of slips but according to Jalinga Tea, all workers the interviewees also engaged in a variety of can pick up a payslip from the estate offi ce odd jobs, farming on leased land or running 60 The , Labour Commissioner, small businesses. According to the workers, Increase of VDA under 98 Scheduled Employment, they were unable to secure any loans from 13.8.2018, available at https://blog.sgc-services.com/ banks or cooperatives as their ability to repay wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Assam-VDA-notifi cation- we.f.e-01.06.2018-1.pdf loans is considered very low. The estate

21 management was said to be reluctant to Jalinga Tea workers are given food rations assist them in securing loans. The inability of every week by management. This includes 3 workers to secure loans affects their ability kilos of either rice or fl our a week per adult, to e.g. send their children for further educa- and an additional 2.5 kilos per child at a price tion (see pp. 8–9). of Rs. 0.55 per kilo. Workers are also pro- vided tea dust61 for their own consumption. Jalinga Tea agrees that the cash wages it pays According to the interviewees, the employer to its workers are not suffi cient to support a also provides some of the following for them: family. According to the company, the com- pulses, edible oils, clothing, blankets and bined value of a worker’s cash wage (Rs. mosquito nets, around the time of auditors’ 145 in September 2019 following the Rs. visits. According to the company, the provi- 30 increase), in-kind benefi ts (e.g. medical sion of these products has nothing to do with care, housing) and other benefi ts such as auditors’ visits and they are distributed to an annual bonus total Rs. 241 a day. In addi- workers according to seasons and also at the tion to these, the company also takes into time of festivals and public holidays. account its workers’ earnings from the sale of rice, cattle, chicken and fi sh that the Tea workers normally eat three meals a day. workers grow in the plantation. As such, the According to the interviewees, they can only company has calculated that total earnings afford meat on weekends or special occa- of its workers is in fact Rs. 300 (3.85 euros) sions. They estimated their monthly spending a day, which the company considers to be on food to be about Rs. 3,000 (38.5 euros). more than a living wage. Jalinga Tea is further Several workers reported that malnutri- planning to provide workers with the seeds of tion and anaemia were health issues on the some valuable crops. By growing and selling plantation. these high-value crops, the company esti- mates workers can earn as much as Rs. 350 Confusion over annual leave and sick per day (4.49 euros). leave Finnwatch views the fact that Jalinga Tea has According to workers interviewed for this made a plan to increase workers’ wages as report in Assam, they were given 14 days of exceptional and believes this indicates that annual leave each year for which they were the company is committed to the idea of a paid half their normal pay rate. Workers are living wage. However, Finnwatch considers not compensated for any absences beyond that a cash wage should in itself be suffi cient these 14 days a year, even in the event of to cover the basic needs of workers and their illness. However, pursuant to existing legisla- families, without the need to supplement tion workers are entitled to one day of leave their income e.g. by selling farm products. per every 20 days worked62 and 14 days of Increasing workers’ wages to a level that can paid sick leave63. Annual leave should be be considered a living wage will require that compensated for at a normal pay rate in full all actors in the tea value chain are commit- and sick leave at a minimum of two-thirds ted to this and that the living wage of plan- of a normal pay rate. In its response, Jalinga tation workers is also taken into account in Tea said that the company complies with the the price that the buyer companies pay to Assam state regulations in matters related to producers for their tea. When estimating the annual leave and sick leave. value of in-kind benefi ts, it is important to determine how well the benefi ts correspond with workers and their family members’ needs, and it should be ensured that the in-kind benefi ts that are taken into account 61 Tea dust is the dust and fans left over from broken tea in living wage calculations do not serve to leaves, i.e. waste, often used in cheap, mass-produced tea bags. maintain the workers’ dependency of their 62 Plantation Labour Act, Chapter VI employer. 63 Assam Plantation Labour Rules, 1956 Chapter VI

22 Collective agreement and minimum wages in the tea plantation sector in Assam

In Assam, tea is cultivated mainly in the val- In March 2018, a tripartite Minimum Wage leys of two rivers, Brahmaputra and Barak. Advisory Board proposed a composite wage According to the latest collective agreement, (including cash and in-kind benefi ts) of Rs. signed in 2015, wages at tea plantations in the 351 for tea workers in the Barak and Brahma- valley were increased to putra Valleys. The Consultative Committee of Rs. 115. At the same time, it was agreed that Planters’ Associations (CCPA) raised objections wages in the would be to this proposed wage. A one-man committee increased to Rs. 137 by 201764. In the Barak was set up to examine these objections and Valley where Jalinga Tea is located, wages have provide proposals65. The committee report is historically been lower and were Rs. 115 a day yet to be made public.66 in 2017. This difference in wages is reported to In July 2018, the government of Assam gave have been introduced by bilateral agreements an interim order to increase the wage of tea between the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha plantation workers by Rs. 3067 in reaction to (ACMS) trade union and the employers’ associa- the CCPA’s objections to proposed composite tion and has been attributed to a difference in wage of Rs. 351. The order was backdated to the productivity of the two regions. The state March 2018. Subsequently tea plantation wages government of Assam, other unions and civil should now be Rs. 167 in the Brahmaputra society members have always opposed this Valley and Rs. 145 in the Barak Valley. difference, but any concrete steps in remedying the situation have yet to be implemented. In July 2018, the authorities in Assam issued a proposal for a minimum wage for tea workers The 2015 collective agreement expired in 2017. in smallholder gardens (less than 25 hectares in In 2017, the government of Assam appointed a size). The proposal was Rs. 24568. tripartite committee to determine a minimum wage for the sector. Tea sector wages were below the state minimum wage and the plight of tea plantation workers and starvation deaths in forced the government to take action. Despite this, Assam still does not have a valid minimum wage for the tea planta- tion sector or a new collective agreement.

64 Memorandum of Settlement between the Tea In- 65 Raiot Collective, 1.10.2018, Starvation wages vs. living dustry of Assam Valley and the Employees, availab- wages in the tea gardens of Assam, http://www.raiot. le at http://www.assamchahmazdoorsangha.org/ in/starvation-wage-vs-living-wage-in-the-tea-gardens- BILATERAL%20AGREEMENT%20PDF/Wage%20Agree- of-assam/ (accessed on 4.10.2019) ment%20of%20Daily%20Rated%20Worker.pdf 66 Phone interview with a representative of the organi- sation PAJHRA (Promotion and Advancement of Justi- ce, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis), 4.10.2019 67 Government of Assam, Labour Welfare Department, Order by the Governor, Notifi cation 3.7.2018, availab- le at https://labourcommissioner.assam.gov.in/sites/ default/fi les/swf_utility_folder/departments/coi_la- bour_uneecopscloud_com_oid_14/menu/document/ interim.pdf 68 Government of Assam, Labour Welfare Department, Order by the Governor, Notifi cation 6.7.2018, availab- le at https://labourcommissioner.assam.gov.in/sites/ default/fi les/swf_utility_folder/departments/coi_la- bour_uneecopscloud_com_oid_14/menu/document/ Small%20Tea.pdf

23 During fi eld research, it was observed that Employment relationships all information on holidays and any other at Jalinga Tea offi cial notifi cations were only posted on Jalinga Tea workers interviewed for this the estate offi ce noticeboard in English, report estimated that the estate employs a language that most likely only very few 1,500–1,600 people across three tea gardens. tea workers can read. In addition, despite According to them, workers at the estate fall a written employment contract being a into three categories – permanent, semi-per- requirement in many certifi cation schemes, manent and casual. The permanent workers none of the interviewed workers was in come from families that have worked at the possession of such a contract. According estate for generations. When parents cease to the interviewees, terms and conditions work for any reason, their children take over had been explained to them only verbally their jobs. According to Jalinga Tea, jobs are when they fi rst started working on the not inherited but when new workers are hired, estate. Other than this, they receive up-to- they do take into account if a retiring worker date information on terms and conditions recommends the hiring of a family member. or changes to these, mostly from their peers. According to Jalinga Tea, all workers According to the interviewees, the children are given appointment letters in Bengali, of ex-workers must work on the estate for but according to the most recent Fairtrade 5 to 6 years before they themselves are fi ndings this is not the case. considered permanent workers. When they are considered permanent, they can have their Shortcomings in medical services own house on the estate. Until then, they are considered semi-permanent. Another group There is a health centre on the estate, but, of semi-permanent workers on the estate is according to the interviewees, there has fresh recruits. They too are often children of been no permanent doctor only a phar- the existing estate workers, but they may have macist at the estate for more than two worked elsewhere in between. Semi-perma- years. The health centre functions pri- nent workers are paid the same wage and marily as a dispensary, and paracetamol have the same benefi ts as permanent workers is the only treatment provided for most with the exception of housing and the use of illnesses. However, a doctor69 visits the the ambulance service. According to workers’ estate twice a week. The estate has a estimates, there are perhaps 600 such “semi- medical emergency vehicle, but, the inter- permanent” workers at Jalinga Tea. viewees claimed that outside of working hours it was only available to permanent In addition, managers appoint casual workers workers and not the rest of the planta- to help when there is urgent work that needs tion population (e.g. semi-permanent or to be completed. They are typically hired from casual workers, or permanent workers’ within the plantation community. They are paid family members, see text box to the right). double the normal rates but do not receive According to the company, the health any in-kind benefi ts. According to interviewed centre has a wide selection of necessary workers’ estimates, there are maybe 70–90 medicines and the ambulance service is such casual workers in each of the three available to the entire plantation popu- Jalinga Tea gardens. lation. The company has been trying to recruit a doctor for quite some time. The According to Jalinga Tea, there are only per- Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade observed manent and casual (seasonal) workers on the shortcomings in fi rst aid during both their estate. The company explained that because most recent audits at Jalinga Tea. seasonal workers are hired from within the plantation community, they already live on the estate and have no housing needs. During its 69 The visiting doctor is part of a governmental health initiative to address the health needs of under-ser- most recent audit of Jalinga tea, Fairtrade also ved rural areas. For more information see https:// noted that casual workers lacked the benefi t nhm.gov.in of housing.

24 According to workers, the plantation has a high school, with a total of 200 pupils. In organised events during which information addition, there is a public primary school in about various health issues has been shared. the vicinity, which children from the planta- During these events, workers have had their tion attend. Tere are also three day care facili- blood pressure taken, heart issues have been ties (creches) on the plantation, one in each examined, workers’ eyes have been checked, garden. According to interviewees, the plan- etc. However, workers somewhat questioned tation does not use child labour. the value of these events as they believed There are no toilets or sources of potable these did not meet their needs. Issues that water in the tea fi elds, where women tea the interviewees thought most relevant pluckers in particular work. Toilets are only for their community included malnutrition, located in the tea factory (the most recent anaemia, and maternal and infant mortality. Rainforest Alliance audit found some toilets According to Jalinga Tea, there has not been in the factory to be dirty and unhygienic). a case of maternal mortality at its planta- Some workers are tasked with carrying water tions for over fi ve years, and all its workers to those working in the fi elds, far away from undergo an annual medical examination. water sources. Otherwise, workers must According to interviewees, there haven’t carry their own drinking water with them. been any major accidents at the estate in Shelters that should provide protection from recent years. However, workers tasked with the elements, are also sparse. spreading organic compost and organic pes- In its response, Jalinga Tea denied the ticides complained of skin irritation when workers’ claims saying that there are plenty distributing compost. According to the inter- of shelters, adequate toilets and water viewees, they have not been trained in han- pumps across the plantation. dling the compost. In its response, Jalinga Tea emphasised that it is a certifi ed organic plan- tation, and that all fertilisers and pesticides A shortage of housing used at the plantation are organic and, there- The majority of the interviewed Jalinga Tea fore, not hazardous. workers lived in so-called kutcha houses (houses made of mud or other low-quality According to interviewees, protective gear, materials), which they had built themselves. such as gloves, masks and soap for cleaning, These houses are typically relatively large is provided only when auditors visit the with 2 to 3 rooms. Some of the houses visited estate. The same applies to raingear, umbrel- by the fi eld researcher had traditional chulhas las and boots. According to one worker, “they for cooking, which produce a great deal of expect us to come to work and everything smoke and can cause eye irritation and res- else we have to take care of ourselves”. The piratory problems. This was exacerbated by plantation’s women workers use nylon gunny the poor ventilation in the houses. According bags tied to their bodies for waterproof- to Jalinga Tea, all kutcha houses have proper ing while plucking leaves. During rain and ventilation and newish chulhas, which are not extreme heat, they use traditional bamboo made of mud and are smoke-free. hats, if these are available, or carry umbrel- las to protect themselves from the elements. Only a few families in the research sample They also rub oil or soap to their feet in an lived in so-called pucca houses (houses made attempt to keep away leeches and to deter of high-quality materials, such as bricks or mosquitoes. According to Jalinga Tea, protec- concrete). A single pucca house typically tive gear, rain gear and umbrellas are availa- comprises of 2 rooms, which are approxi- ble to everyone as needed. PPE is personal, mately 6m2 in size. The houses have corru- and regularly checked. gated sheet roofi ng. Some pucca housing provided to workers has been incomplete, Even children, who attend school can have for example, the roof has been missing or their own umbrella. According to Jalinga Tea, in some cases, the house has actually been the plantation has both a middle school and

25 just a structure with no walls. According to Although the interviewees did not report Jalinga Tea, no family has ever been provided discrimination, they did report preferential an incomplete house. There are 306 pucca treatment and favouritism in the distribu- houses on the estate, and the estate has tion of benefi ts and perks such as govern- devised a plan, approved by local authori- ment support for toilets and gas. According to ties, to improve the housing. According to the Jalinga Tea, it plays no role in the distribution results of the most recent Fairtrade audit, of government benefi ts, which are distributed the plantation has a shortage of 220 pucca to workers in cooperation by local authorities houses and there have been delays in the and trade unions. implementation of the estates’ housing plan. Both kutcha and pucca houses have elec- There is a trade union, but it does not rep- tricity for which workers are billed. Electric resent workers’ interests lighting, fans and TVs are common. None of According to the workers, almost all the the houses had running water. Workers get workers at the Jalinga Tea are members of water from communal pipeline or from hand- the Cachar Cha Sramik Union (CCSU), an pumps (borewells). People also wash them- affi liate of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sramik selves in the open near the water source. Union (see text box p. 23). An annual union According to Jalinga Tea, there is one hand- subscription (Rs. 30) is deducted from the pump per four houses on the estate as workers’ annual bonus. The interviewees required by the Assam authorities. reported no restrictions to the workers’ ability to join unions of their choosing or Each family has their own toilet separate to their participation in union activities. from the house they live in. Some of the However, the interviewees also thought that toilets have been built as part of a govern- CCSU did not represent the workers’ best ment programme for constructing toilets in interests. The CCSU has traditionally been rural India. Waste management is poor and very popular among tea plantation workers waterborne illnesses and various kinds of in the Barak Valley and it still has the largest stomach issues are common. According to presence, in terms of membership, in the Jalinga Tea, all toilets have septic tanks and area. However, it has started to lose its sig- there is no contamination of drinking water nifi cance, and new smaller unions such as by sewage. Both the Rainforest Alliance and the Barak Valley Cha Mazdoor Sangh and the Fairtrade observed shortcomings in waste Barak Cha Sramik Union are making inroads management during their most recent audits into the tea gardens, including Jalinga Tea. at Jalinga Tea. Because tea workers can live on a plantation Misuse of Fairtrade premiums for as long as one of their family members works there and they do not have the pos- All interviewees were aware that the estate sibility to save for a house elsewhere or to was certifi ed by both Fairtrade and the educate themselves and obtain other jobs, Rainforest Alliance. During fi eld research, it they are tied to the provided free accommo- was observed that the only notices posted dation and work in the plantations for genera- on the offi ce notice board in local languages tions regardless of how poor the accommo- concerned the date and time of the upcoming dation is. According to Jalinga Tea, it does visit by Fairtrade auditors. According to the not evict retired workers or their families interviewees, the auditors’ visits are care- for humanitarian reasons. However, retired fully managed and controlled by the estate workers interviewed for this report said that management. Visits usually last three days, they must have at least one family member and those workers who will be visible to the who works on the plantation in order to auditors are prepped in advance. According maintain their housing. to Jalinga Tea, the company normally sends auditors to the plantation with just a driver. Both the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade

26 A tea plantation worker’s kutcha house at Jalinga Tea. The small building at the back is a temple.

said that their auditors chose their inter- viewees independently. One of the interviewees mentioned a sepa- rate bank account, governed by a “com- mittee”, where they claimed the “profi ts generated by the international sale of the tea garden’s products in cooperation with foreign organisations” are kept. There is also a sepa- rate committee dedicated to women’s issues. The funds have been used for such things as a community hall, a cremation site and street lighting. The interviewee also thought that these funds could be accessed by per- manent workers in case of an emergency although they were unable to provide further details or concrete examples. The members of the committee that governs the funds are selected through a popular vote, but it was also said that emergency funds are allocated to workers on the basis of favouritism and nepotism. Finnwatch believes these funds to be Fairtrade premiums but neither Jalinga Tea nor Fairtrade confi rmed this in their response. According to the report from the most recent Fairtrade audit at Jalinga Tea, loans have been granted to Jalinga Tea management from the Fairtrade Premium funds without proper con- tracts or terms and conditions defi ning these loans.

27 4. Sri Lanka: Nuwara Eliya and Ratnaputra

METHODOLOGY Table 3: Composition of the interview sample in Sri Lanka Two tea plantations, the Pedro Estate and the Pedro Opata Estate Estate Opata Estate, were selected for fi eld research Gender: female/male 12/8 17/3 in Sri Lanka. Both estates have been suppliers Educational level: 13/7 8/12 to Nordqvist, and they were chosen by com- secondary/primary71 paring the list of Nordqvist suppliers that the Type of employ- 20/0 16/4 company shared with Finnwatch with pub- ment relationship: licly available information on suppliers for permanent/casual other tea brands. Nordqvist no longer sources tea from either of these plantations due to shortcomings in quality. Both plantations THE PEDRO ESTATE remain suppliers for Twinings and Unilever. The Pedro Estate is one of the oldest tea Between January and February 2019, 20 estates in Sri Lanka. It is located at 1,900 workers from the Pedro Estate and 20 metres above sea level in the Nuwara Eliya workers from the Opata Estate were inter- district of Sri Lanka’s Central Province. The viewed for this report. In addition to carrying total size of the estate is 688 hectares, and out interviews, the fi eld researcher also col- tea is grown on 544 hectares of this. In lected documentary evidence such as pay- 2017/2018, the estate produced 555,000 kilos slips. The fi eld research was conducted by of tea. In 2016, the total population at the the Human Development Organization HDO70. Pedro Estate was approximately 7,500 people of whom some 50 were staff and nearly All interviewees were fourth or fi fth genera- 1,200 were workers72. The rest of the estate’s tion migrant workers from Tamil Nadu, India. residents comprised the estate workers’ The interviews were conducted in Tamil family members and its former workers and which is the interviewees’ mother tongue. their family members73. The estate is also At both estates, the interviews were mostly open for tourists.74 conducted in the workers’ homes in condi- The Pedro Estate is part of Kelani Valley tions that ensured confi dentiality. In addi- Plantations PLC, a regional plantation tion to individual worker interviews, a focus company established in 1992. Kelani Valley group discussion was also organised at both Plantations in turn is part of the Hayleys locations. Group, one of the largest corporate groups Interviewees were selected from among all in Sri Lanka. The Hayleys Group owns two the workers at these estates using a purpo- large plantation companies which together sive sampling technique, and the networks account for 3.8 percent and 3.4 percent used by existing contacts were utilised to reach out to further people. The interviewees performed various tasks in the estates including tea plucking, work in a tea factory, pruning, weeding, and spraying pesticides. 71 Nowadays, education in Sri Lanka is compulsory to the age of 14 i.e. junior secondary level. 72 Pedro Estate – Committed to sustainable business, 2016, presentation by Balamurali Murali, Quality assurance & compliance. Available at: https://www.sli- deshare.net/friendbalamurali/pedro-estate-63522228 (viewed on 26.6.2019) 73 All estate land belongs to the state which is why the plantation companies cannot oust retired workers’ fa- 70 The Human Development Organization (HDO) is a milies from the estates. human rights and development organisation based in 74 Growth Beyond Measure – Kelani Valley Plantations Kandy, Sri Lanka. The organisation works with plantati- PLC Annual Report 2017/18, available at https://www. on and rural communities across the country. kvpl.com/download/kvpl-2017-18.pdf

28 of Sri Lanka’s tea and rubber production audit in spring 201980. In April 2019, the respectively75. Rainforest Alliance issued a press release according to which it was conducting inves- Kelani Valley Plantations owns and manages tigations on various plantations in Sri Lanka 25 estates that produce tea, rubber and following reports of illegally high deductions spices, as well as several tea and rubber fac- from the wages of tea plantation workers tories. In the fi nancial year 2017/18, its total (see pp. 32–33)81. The inspection audit into revenue was Rs. 8.64 billion (43.4 million Kelani Valley Plantations was conducted at euros76), and its tea export revenue was Rs. the Rogbill Tea Estate. According to the pub- 4.39 billion (22 million euros). According to lished summary of the investigation audit the company, 99 percent of its employees are results, the company was not able to demon- unionised.77 strate in a satisfactory manner that the According to the company, the shortage deductions made from its workers’ salaries of workers it is experiencing due to an had been “suffi ciently authorised”. The audit increasing amount of workers migrating to also found issues related to the lacking state urban areas and overseas has become a criti- of repair of workers’ housing, especially their cal challenge for the company at both its roofs, the availability of PPE, and the washing tea and rubber plantations. The size of the facilities for workers tasked with spraying workforce at the company’s tea plantations chemicals82. According to the company, its alone has declined by 25 percent in just a UTZ certifi cate expired earlier this year and decade. Another challenge the company is it did not seek its renewal in time due to a experiencing is the declining yield of its plan- misunderstanding related to the merger of tations. Following the national ban on weed- UTZ and the Rainforest Alliance83. killer glyphosate78, manual weeding was introduced at all the company’s tea estates. THE OPATA ESTATE However, workers were reluctant to take up manual weeding due to the health risks The Opata Estate (sometimes spelled Opatha and hazards caused by reptiles and leeches. Estate) is located in the Ratnapura district According to the company, this led to a drop in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is in yield and hence, a cut to its workers’ spread across 530 hectares. The estate pro- earnings. To overcome these challenges, the duces both tea and rubber.84 The total popu- company is piloting an out-grower system lation of the estate is approximately 3,200 (see p. 35).79 people of whom approximately 450 are workers. The rest of the people living on Kelani Valley Plantations lost its Rainforest the estate are either estate workers’ family Alliance certifi cate following an investigation members or former workers and their family members. The Opata Estate is part of Kahawatte 75 The World of Hayleys, Plantations, https://www.hayle- Plantations PLC, a regional plantation ys.com/companies/sector/plantations/ (viewed on company owned by Forbes Plantations 26.6.2019) 76 1 Sri Lankan rupee = 0.005 euros Ltd, which in turn is owned by the Merril 77 Growth Beyond Measure – Kelani Valley Plantations PLC Annual Report 2017/18 78 In 2015, Sri Lanka banned glyphosate imports due to 80 Rainforest Alliance, Andrea Valenzuela, email on concerns that its use was linked to a deadly kidney 3.7.2019. disease, common among agricultural workers. Howe- ver, in July 2018, the ban was lifted for tea and rub- 81 Rainforest Alliance on investigation of certifi ed tea es- ber industries only for a period of 36 months. The tates in Sri Lanka, 8.4.2019, https://www.rainforest- main reason for lifting the ban was crop losses due alliance.org/statements/tea-estates-sri-lanka (viewed to the over-growing weeds, especially in tea planta- on 26.6.2019) tions. The subsequent economic losses were estima- 82 Rainforest Alliance, Audit Report for Groups – Public ted to be about Rs. 15 to 20 billion per year. The Daily Summary M/S Kelani Valley Plantations PLC, 24.5.2019 FT, 16.7.2018, Glyphosate ban lifted fi nally, http:// 83 Kelani Valley Plantations, Johann Rodrigo, email on www.ft.lk/front-page/Glyphosate-ban-lifted-fi nal- 25.9.2019 ly/44-659136 (viewed on 26.6.2019) 84 Dilmah Tea Estates, Opata Estate, https://estates.dil- 79 Growth Beyond Measure – Kelani Valley Plantations mahtea.com/our-estates/opata-estate.html (viewed PLC Annual Report 2017/18 on 26.6.2019) 29 Opata Estate tea factory.

J Fernando (MJF) Group85. Kahawatte able to comment on the Finnwatch fi eld Plantations owns and manages 16 tea and research fi ndings before their publication. rubber plantations, as well as produces other Kahawatte Plantations declined to comment crops such as cinnamon and pepper. In 2016, on the fi ndings in detail other than stating it produced approximately 8.8 million kilos that the company operates in line with the of . Kahawatte Plantations’ total tea plantation sector’s collective agreement revenue in 2016 was Rs. 2.8 billion (13 million and the national laws of Sri Lanka. In addi- euros). The Rainforest Alliance certifi cate tion, the company noted that the popula- for Kahawatte Plantations was cancelled in tion living on its plantations have benefi ted, December 2018.86 Kahawatte Plantations without any conditions or cost to themselves, remains UTZ certifi ed87. from a number of humanitarian interventions. The foundation responsible for these inter- ventions is owned and funded by the MJF WORKING AND LIVING CONDITIONS Group.88 AT THE PEDRO ESTATE AND THE OPATA ESTATE Kahawatte Plantations noted that it was not possible for it to comment on the The working conditions at the Pedro Estate Finnwatch fi eld research fi ndings in more and the Opata Estate were found to be detail, because, according to the company, largely similar and, therefore, the fi eld with no information on who had con- research fi ndings pertaining to these two ducted the fi eld research or who were the estates are discussed together below. workers interviewed for it, the fi ndings were In line with the ethical guidelines that apply “only generalisation”. However, Finnwatch to all Finnwatch research, both Kelani Valley never discloses the names of interviewed Plantations and Kahawatte Plantations as workers to the companies it investigates. well as the Rainforest Alliance and UTZ, which Confi dentiality between Finnwatch and the have certifi ed these plantations, have been interviewed workers is important in order to protect interviewees from the possible reper- 85 Kahawatte Plantations PLC Interim Financial State- cussions many of them are afraid of. ments (Nine Months ended 30th September 2018), available at https://cdn.cse.lk/cmt/upload_report_ Responses received from Kelani Valley fi le/710_1542364389872.pdf Plantations and the certifi cation schemes 86 Rainforest Alliance, Certifi cate Search and Public Sum- maries, https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/ are incorporated into the following chapters. solutions/certifi cation/agriculture/certifi cate-search- public-summaries/ (viewed on 26.6.2019) 88 Kahawatte Plantations, Anura Gunasekera, email on 87 UTZ, List of UTZ certifi ed producers, July 30, 2019 11.9.2019

30 Tea plantation workers’ line rooms at the Opata Estate.

Kelani Valley Plantations denied many of the Of the interviewees for this report, perma- report’s fi ndings and said that the problems nent workers reported average gross monthly specifi ed in the fi ndings might be due to the earnings of only Rs. 11,488 (57.7 euros) at interviewed workers not having a proper the Pedro Estate and Rs. 12,972 (65.2 euros) understanding of everything that has been at the Opata Estate. This is signifi cantly less done to promote their wellbeing. If this is than the living wage benchmark for the true, Finnwatch feels this indicates the need sector (see pp. 34–35). to better ensure the participation of workers Permanent workers at both plantations said in the development, implementation and that they are paid the 2016 minimum daily monitoring of projects aimed at improving wage applicable to the tea plantation sector conditions on the plantation and to improve (Rs. 730) if they turn up to work on 75 percent the dissemination of information to workers. of days on which work is offered. Generally speaking, work is typically offered 20–25 days Deductions eat up a big part of workers’ per month. Therefore, in theory, if a worker wages works 20 days per month (and the piece-rate Since the privatisation of tea plantations in based salary component is not taken into Sri Lanka in the early 1990s, tea plantation account, see more below) they should earn at wages have been determined in negotiations least Rs. 14,600 each month (73.7 euros), and between the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon if a worker works 25 days per month, they and selected plantation trade unions. The should earn at least Rs. 18,250 (91.7 euros). Collective Agreement is renewed every two There are many reasons why workers years. The most recent Collective Agreement earn less than this. One important factor is was signed in 2019 following delays but at that workers are only paid for those days the time the fi eld research for this report was on which they report to work, and for the conducted, the 2016 collective agreement majority of workers89, it is not possible to was still valid, meaning that all the state- reach the 75 percent attendance threshold. ments given by workers this report refl ects According to the interviewees, the most on concern the 2016 agreement (see text box common reasons for why they could not p. 33). Even though wages in the tea plan- report to work on all the days when work tation sector remain low, unions have over the years been successful in increasing the 89 According to the interviewees, only watchmen, tea wages of tea workers as well as in keeping factory workers and bungalow servants can generally meet the 75 % attendance threshold. Tea estate ma- daily plucking targets relatively low. nagement lives in bungalows on the estates and have servants.

31 was offered were poor weather (such • labour tea dust (workers are issued tea dust as monsoon rain, which leaves workers for their own consumption, but the price is drenched) and illness, either they themselves recovered from their wages.) were sick or their children were. According Some of the deductions such as social secu- to Kelani Valley Plantations, alcoholism is the rity payments are statutory. Salary deduc- primary reason for its workers’ absenteeism. tions can also be authorised by a local labour However, the take-home pay of workers is department, plantation trade unions or often signifi cantly lower. This is due to the workers themselves. Even though all of the many deductions made from workers’ sala- deductions described above, when approved ries. Information on deductions is included by workers themselves or by other instances, on the workers’ payslips, which the workers are legal on their own, deductions that total receive in writing at both estates. more than 50 or 75 percent of a worker’s wages are illegal in Sri Lanka91. According On the payslips collected from the inter- to the plantation employers’ organisation, viewees, the highest total deductions from the Planters’ Association of Ceylon, the 50 one worker’s wages accounted for 78 percent limit applies to tea plantations (and percent of their pay. In this example case, the the 75 percent limit for example to rubber deductions included social security, salary plantations). According to trade unions advance and an advance for religious fes- such as the Workers Solidarity Union, the 75 tivities (festival advance), deductions to pay percent limit also applies to tea plantations. back loans, payment towards the plantations’ According to the Planters’ Association of welfare fund (the welfare fund is used to pay Ceylon deductions for advances should not for various kinds of events, such as funerals), be taken into account when calculating total payment towards religious fund (the reli- deductions, whereas the trade unions inter- gious fund is used to pay e.g. for temple con- pretation of the relevant law is that deduc- struction), payments for barber services, and tions for advances should be taken into unspecifi ed “other”. This “other” constituted account. almost one fourth of the deductions, or Rs. 900. If deductions for salary advances are Similarly, an investigation by the Thomson not taken into account, deductions in this Reuters Foundation in March 2019 found example case accounted for 49 percent of possibly illegally high deductions from the the worker’s total salary90. wages of Sri Lankan tea puckers. In Thomson Reuters Foundation’s sample, workers at Other deductions made commonly from Fairtrade-certifi ed estates were subject to 74 workers’ salaries include: percent wage deductions on average, while • cooperative fund (plantation workers’ pay those at Rainforest Alliance-certifi ed estates a Rs. 50 (0.25 euros) subscription to these saw 65 percent taken from their pay. Several funds from which they can take out loans of the payslips showed deductions of over when necessary) 75 percent, and in some cases the workers’ daily take-home pay was as little as Rs. 26, • insurance (some plantations insure their according to Thomson Reuters Foundation92. workers; workers are then compensated by Fairtrade has denied the Thomson Reuters the insurance scheme for accidents) Foundation’s fi ndings93. As noted above, the • trade union subscription Rainforest Alliance has conducted several investigation audits following the publica-

90 An example from the Pedro Estate. Otherwise deduc- 91 Wages Board Ordinance, 1941 tions made from the interviewed workers’ wages at 92 Thomson Reuters Foundation, 27.3.2019, Exclusive: the Pedro Estates ranged from 29–64 %, if deductions Tea label giants vow probe after Sri Lanka labor abuse for advances are taken into account, or from 17–35% expose, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lan- if they are not taken into account. The highest deduc- ka-tea-workers-abuse-exclusive/exclusive-tea-label- tion at the Opata Estate was 72 % of wages and ot- giants-vow-probe-after-sri-lanka-labor-abuse-expose- herwise deductions ranged from 42–48 % when in- idUSKCN1R802V (viewed on 26.6.2019) cluding deductions for advances. Without advances, 93 Fairtrade Finland, Mirka Kartano, e-mail on 27.9.2019 deductions ranged from 29–47 %. 32 tion of the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s on the number of years worked and the allegations. worker’s end salary. None of the interviewees reported any irregularities in the payment of In addition to information on deductions, this gratuity or their annual bonus, which is payslips include information on the worker’s also a workers’ statutory right. piece-rate based wage component. Tea pluckers can earn more than the minimum Casual workers interviewed at the Opata daily wage if they pluck more tea leaves than Estate reported earnings of Rs. 500 a day (2.5 the daily target which was 18 kilos at both euros), regardless of the amount of tea leaves estates. For anything in excess of 18 kilos, workers were paid Rs. 25 per kilo in line with Plantation sector the 2016 Collective Agreement. According to collective agreement the interviewed workers, reaching the daily target of 18 kilos is not diffi cult during the According to the 2016 Collective Agree- harvest season but it is not easy during the ment, the basic daily wage of a tea planta- dry season. In both the Nuwara Eliya and tion worker is Rs. 500. In addition, perma- Ratnapura regions the harvest season typi- nent tea plantation workers receive various cally begins in August and lasts until the incentives and supplements so that their end of the year and the dry season begins wage becomes Rs. 730 a day (3.67 euros). in February/March and lasts until June. One of the incentives is an attendance Sometimes, tea pluckers work longer hours in incentive of Rs. 60. Workers receive the order to earn more, but this is not common94. attendance incentive if they report to work on 75 percent of the days on which work is According to the Planters’ Association of offered. Ceylon, the plantation workers are given their payslips in advance and, thus, have the The 2016 Collective Agreement expired in opportunity to complain if their wages have October 2018. Trade unions (that are not been miscalculated or if they have questions signatories to the Collective Agreement), about the made deductions95. Both the wage civil society organisations, youth organisa- system and payslips themselves are complex tions and plantation sector workers who and many of the interviewed workers said were demanding a minimum daily wage of that they did not fully understand them. Most Rs. 1,000 (5 euros), managed to delay the of the interviewees, especially those tasked signing of the new Collective Agreement with plucking, said that they did not under- until January 2019. stand all the sums and deductions written on their payslips. Because it was not clear to In January 2019, a new collective agreement the workers what the many deductions made was signed. This increased the minimum from their salaries were related to, it cannot daily wage of plantation workers by Rs. 20 be claimed that deductions are made with (0.1 euros). As such, from February 2019 their consent. Several of the interviewees onwards, tea plantation workers have for this report said that they did not think been paid Rs. 750 a day (3.77 euros). The that they had given their permission to make new daily wage comprises a basic wage deductions from their wages. of Rs. 700 and a supplement of Rs. 50. The new daily wage includes no attendance Tea plantation workers are also entitled to a incentive. statutory gratuity payment which is paid to workers at the end of their service, usually Smallholdings are not covered by the Col- upon their retirement. The amount depends lective Agreement96.

94 Normal working hours at tea plantations are from 96 At small holdings, workers are normally paid the 8am to 4.30pm, i.e. 8.5 hrs. According to Kelani Valley national minimum wage (Rs. 400), but in some Plantation, normal working hours at the Pedro Estate cases, wages according to the collective ag- are from 8.30am-4pm including breaks and their wor- reement. Many certifi cation schemes require kers’ working hours are 6.5 per day. payment of a minimum wage or collective agree- 95 The Daily FT, 24.4.2019, Planters’ Association res- ment wage, whichever is highest. ponds to Thomson Reuters Foundation 33 they plucked. Their daily wage of Rs. 500 is in Malnutrition is a serious problem line with the tea workers’ basic wage as per at Sri Lanka’s tea plantations the 2016 Collective Agreement, and slightly Child growth is internationally recognised as higher than Sri Lanka’s national minimum an important indicator of nutritional status wage97. and health in populations. Undernutrition is In addition to their daily wages, plantation assessed from underweight, wasting and sector workers have a lawful right to several stunting. The percentage of children with a in-kind benefi ts – most notably, free housing low height for their age (stunting) refl ects and sanitation, childcare, health care and the cumulative effects of undernutrition potable water. Unlike in India, the estates are since and even before birth.100 A 2017 not required to provide elementary schooling World Bank Report found that 36 percent to their workers’ children. All estate schools of children under the age of fi ve in Sri in Sri Lanka are managed by the government. Lanka’s estate sector experienced stunted These benefi ts are discussed in more detail growth while the national average was 17 below. percent, 40 percent of children in the estate sector were underweight and 16 percent Wages are less than the living wage were wasting while the national averages for these were 21 and 15 percent respec- In July 2019, the Global Living Wage Coalition tively.101 The UN Committee on Economic, issued a living wage benchmark for the tea Social and Cultural Rights has also drawn plantation sector in Sri Lanka. Research for attention to wasting among Sri Lanka’s the benchmark was conducted in 201598, and plantation community and called on authori- the benchmark, updated for January 201999, ties to introduce measures to improve the was Rs. 23,785 gross per month, or Rs. 21,508 plantation community’s food security102. net (119.63 or 108.18 euros, respectively). The estimate is based on the cost of a basic but decent life for a family and takes into account in-kind benefi ts typical for the sector. The estimated value of in-kind bene- fi ts– housing, medical clinic services, creche services and free tea dust – in 2019 was Rs. 1,668 a month. In its response, Kelani Valley Plantations questioned the Global Living Wage Coalition’s living wage benchmark saying that different groups use different 100 Nutrition Landscape Information System (NLIS) living wage calculations to advance their own Country Profi le Indicators – Interpretation Guide. goals. World Health Organization, available at https:// www.who.int/nutrition/nlis_interpretation_ As previously mentioned, workers at both the guide.pdf 101 Sri Lanka: Improving Nutrition Outcomes for Pedro Estate and the Opata Estate who were Children in Sri Lanka’s Estate Sector. The positi- interviewed for this report reported ve deviance approach (2018), World Bank Group. Available at http://documents.worldbank.org/ curated/en/109211544531399484/pdf/Impro- 97 The national minimum daily wage of a worker in Sri ving-Nutrition-Outcomes-for-Children-in-Sri- Lanka is Rs. 400. The UN Committee on ESCR has ex- Lanka-s-Estate-Sector-The-Positive-Deviance- pressed their concern that the minimum wage is not Approach.pdf. See also Periyasamy, Nithershini suffi cient for living. (2018), Update on the health status of plantation 98 Global Living Wage Coalition (2019), Living Wage Re- community in Sri Lanka, Journal of the College port, Sri Lanka Estate sector, available at https://www. of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, availab- globallivingwage.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ le at https://www.researchgate.net/publica- Sri-Lanka-Living-Wage-report.pdf tion/324611169_Update_on_the_health_sta- 99 Global Living Wage Coalition (2019), Update: Living tus_of_plantation_community_in Sri_Lanka/ Wage Report – Sri Lanka Estate Sector, available at download https://www.globallivingwage.org/wp-content/uplo- 102 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural ads/2019/07/Sri-Lanka-Living-Wage-Study-Compani- Rights, 2017, Concluding observations on the on-Paper-2019.pdf fi fth periodic report of Sri Lanka E/C.12/LKA/ CO/5 Tea plantation workers’ fami- lies’ toilets are located in a se- parate building within a short distance from the line rooms. The picture is from the Pedro Estate.

signifi cantly lower earnings than what the and/or their family must also take care of Global Living Wage Coalition has estimated as “their plot”. Workers then must sell the tea a living wage. As such, interviewed workers leaves that they pluck from “their plot” to at both estates spent almost all of their net the Pedro Estate. Participation to the out- earnings on food for their families. In a typical grower system is voluntary for the workers. family, both parents work on a tea planta- However, according to the interviewees the tion and their combined income is needed to estate management has been successful in support their family. The interviewees esti- getting workers to participate in the scheme mated their monthly spending on food to be by promising them a high income. According approximately Rs. 20,000 (100.6 euros) for a to Finnwatch’s knowledge, these promises of family of four. This is similar to the fi ndings of high income have so far not been fulfi lled. the Global Living Wage Coalition living wage benchmark study, which estimated the cost Living conditions do not meet acceptable of a low cost but nutritious diet for a family of basic standards 4,5 people (where both adults have vigorous According to the living wage benchmark activity levels due to physically demanding study for Sri Lanka’s tea plantation sector labour) to be more than Rs. 18,000 per month commissioned by the Global Living Wage in 2015. Coalition the standard for a basic acceptable In addition to the cost of food, another sig- dwelling for a typical family103 comprises: nifi cant expense that workers reported was • a cement fl oor and walls, medical costs (see p. 38). In addition to these necessary expenses, workers had no pos- • corrugated iron sheet roofi ng without leaks, sibility to put away savings for a rainy day • a ceiling with a height of at least 2m at its or for their retirement. Some families even lowest point, ended up sending their underage children to work (see pp. 39–40). • a minimum of 50 m2 fl oor space, As was mentioned previously, the Pedro • a separate kitchen with windows or a Estate has launched a pilot for an out-grower chimney and at least 3 other rooms (a living system. Participating workers are assigned room and 2 bedrooms), a plot of land to take care of (around 1,500 tea bushes) from the estate tea fi elds. On top of the daily labour on the estate, workers 103 In the benchmark, a typical family was estimated to have 2 adults and 2,5 children.

35 • piped water for drinking and a functioning Estate some line rooms were are shared by water seal latrine both either in the house two families. or in close proximity to it, The rest of the interviewees on both estates • electricity as a source of lighting, lived in line rooms known as “quarters”, which comprise two rooms, a veranda and • and a housing structure in reasonable a separate kitchen, or in small temporary condition. houses/huts. Despite these houses/huts The vast majority of interviewees (17/20) in having been constructed only as temporary the research sample on the Pedro Estate, housing, some families had lived in them for lived in a line room comprising just one room 5 to 8 years. and a veranda for their family. Typically, fami- None of the line rooms or temporary houses/ lies used the veranda for cooking and the huts visited by the fi eld research team at single room for everything else. On the Opata either Pedro Estate or Opata Estate met Estate, half of the interviewees lived in similar with the requirements for a basic acceptable accommodations. However, on the Opata dwelling listed above.

Housing is free-of-charge but often substandard

Sri Lanka’s plantation workers and their families is responsible for the maintenance of such typically live in line houses or line rooms that houses. The ownership of land and houses is have been constructed more than 100 years one of Sri Lankan plantation community’s long- ago during the British colonial era. Line houses, standing demands. which are made up of line rooms, are a bit like The Plantation Human Development Trust105 row houses. The most common type of a line (PHDT) is a tripartite body, set up by the Sri room is a single room of about 11 m2, with a Lankan government, which is responsible for door and a window on one side and a veranda the implementation of various development and in front. Line rooms are generally cramped, welfare schemes on plantations. It was set up damp and dark and as cooking traditionally at the same time plantations were privatised in takes place indoors on open fi re when there the early 1990s and originally it was known as is no chimney, line rooms are also very smoky. the Plantation Housing & Social Welfare Trust. Line rooms are also often in urgent need of PHDT-run housing programmes aim to ensure repair and maintenance. Pursuant to legisla- land ownership and decent living conditions for tion, the maintenance of old line rooms is the plantation workers. Starting from 2015, these responsibility of the estates, but this is generally programmes have been accelerated. However, overlooked and left to the workers themselves. these programmes have not managed to On some estates, the regional plantation com- achieve the goals set for them and deadlines pany helps with major repairs like re-roofi ng. have been missed. Workers and their families have a lawful right to One of the PHDT-run programmes is the live in line rooms free of charge as long as they Housing Project for the Plantation Community, continue to work on the estate104. In practice and as part of this, new houses have been built though, many of the former employees of the for workers at both the Pedro Estate and the estates do not vacate their line rooms but Opata Estate. Unlike line rooms, inhabitants are continue to live on plantations, and the planta- responsible for maintenance of the new houses tion companies cannot evict them because all built under this scheme. plantation land belongs to the state. This often leads to questions on ownership and on who

104 Estate Quarters (Special Provisions) Act no 2 of 1971 105 For more information see https://phdt.org/2017/

36 A small minority of interviewees on the chlorinating or fi ltering before drinking it. Pedro Estate had no electricity in their homes Some families buy purifi ed/clean drinking whereas all interviewees on the Opata Estate water from a local government-run piped had electricity. Normal electricity charges106 water system. are deducted from workers’ wages. 12 out of 20 interviewees at the Pedro Estate According to Kelani Valley Plantations, those and 15 out of 20 interviewees at Opata Estate workers who have no electricity are the ones said that they had their own toilets. The rest who live in temporary residences that the used communal toilets. Communal toilets authorities have not connected to the elec- and washing facilities have been built in tricity network. Eight out of 20 interviewees the workers’ living areas but some of them at the Pedro Estate said that the ventilation in have become unusable at both estates, due their residence was good, while 12 out of 20 to lack of maintenance. According to Kelani interviewees from the Opata Estate said the Valley Plantations, the poor state of commu- same. nal toilets is due to the “dependency syn- The roofs of line houses at both estates had drome” of the workers, which makes them been renovated by the plantation company think that the employer must take care of and the Plantation Human Development everything. However, sanitation and mainte- Trust (PHDT), but otherwise, workers’ have nance of toilets is a legal responsibility of the had to make repairs to the line rooms them- plantations. selves. Several interviewees had also built During working hours, only workers who extensions to their line rooms. However, at work in a tea factory have access to drinking the Opata Estate some parts of the workers’ water and toilets. Workers in the tea fi elds living quarters were built so close to other have no easy access to drinking water or housing that adding extensions to the houses toilets. There are also no shelters in the tea would have been impossible. fi elds where workers could have breaks and In addition, the PHDT is implementing a pro- eat lunch. This is particularly problematic gramme at both estates as part of which, during the rainy season (generally May to new houses have been built for some plan- August/September in Nuwara Eliya where the tation workers (see text box p. 36). Even Pedro Estate is located and April to June and the new houses sometimes fail to meet September to November in Ratnapura where with the basic requirements listed above, as the Opata Estate is located). their rooms are small and access to potable water limited. In its response, Kelani Valley Lacking PPE; paracetamol as a cure for Plantations said that the living conditions everything of workers on its estates have been sig- Workers on tea plantations are exposed to nifi cantly improved over the years and that a variety of occupational health and safety often workers whose families “have been hazards. Most accidents involve injuries dependent on the plantation management like cuts, abrasions and contusions. This is for over 150 years” want to live close to their explained by the fact that most workers family and relatives and therefore refuse to (especially women workers) carry out their move into the newer houses. tasks in the fi eld walking barefoot over rough terrain. Insect stings, snake bites and leeches Poor sanitation are other common occupational hazards in Workers at both the Pedro Estate and the the tea fi elds107. Opata Estate have access to either piped Tea workers often have no knowledge of water or well water, or both, near their what the chemicals they themselves are line rooms. Workers treat water by boiling, tasked with handling contain and are only

106 Electricity charges are standardised island-wide in 107 Virakesari News Paper (Tamil), 30.1.2019, Plantation Sri Lanka. victims of insect stings...?”

37 generally aware of the risks involved in the sheets to cover their head and shoulders. use of agrochemicals. Many workers are According to the interviewees, coughs, colds illiterate and, thus, cannot read the instruc- and low fevers are very common among the tions or warnings printed on chemical con- workers. tainers. At times, workers mix agrochemicals According to the interviewees, minor ill- near water pumps, risking contamination of nesses are treated at both the estates at drinking water. estate surgeries (a dispensary, with non- According to the interviewees at both professional staff) or nearby government estates, generally only men with experience hospitals. However, for anything requiring are tasked with spraying agrochemicals. At hospitalisation or specialised treatment, both the Pedro Estate and the Opata Estate workers must cover the cost themselves, less than half of the interviewees said that as public hospitals which would be free-of- management provided workers with PPE. charge are generally located far from the As most respondents were not aware of estates. Generally, workers preferred to which agrochemicals were being used in use nearby private hospitals for all kinds of the estate they worked at, it was impossible medical issues, because estate dispensaries to determine from the interviews if the PPE merely gave them paracetamol regardless offered was adequate. At the Opata Estate, of their condition and actual medical needs. two respondents complained about the nau- According to focus group discussions, a fami- seating smell of chemicals and headaches ly’s medical expenses are on average Rs. and dizziness caused by the agrochemicals 1,000 per month (5 euros), including doctor’s they had to handle at work. fees, medicines and travel expenses. This is similar to the fi ndings of the Global Living At both the Pedro Estate and the Opata Wage Coalition’s living wage benchmark Estate, a little over half of the interviewees study in which medical expense per family said that they had not been given any training where estimated to be Rs. 870 in 2015. on OHS. None of the interviewees were aware of any regular medical checks for According to Kelani Valley Plantations, the those workers who came into contact with estate dispensary has professional staff who pesticides although legislation stipulated that hand out medicine and nutritional supple- they should be examined by a doctor upon ments to workers as needed. In order to completion of a job involving agrochemicals prevent intestinal worms, workers are de- use108. wormed once each year. According to the company, the estate also has a functioning As mentioned above, the special investiga- pre- and post-natal clinic and a hospital, and tion audit by the Rainforest Alliance found it takes care of its workers from “womb to issues with PPE on Kelani Valley Plantations. tomb”. In its response to Finnwatch, Kelani Valley Plantations said that at the time of the audit, the audited plantation in fact had brand new “No work, no pay” – confusion over PPE in storage but that the company had annual leave and sick leave simply not yet had time to distribute these Plantation workers are entitled to 17 days of to the workers. According to the company, paid annual leave per year. The length of the workers tasked with spraying chemicals leave entitlement depends on the number undergo medical examinations regularly. of days worked. However, according to the interviewees at both estates, they are not At both estates, the interviewees said that entitled to any paid leave; they are only paid they are not given any rain gear and must for the days they work. purchase it themselves (at an approximate cost of Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 5,000, or 7.54–25.13 Plantation workers are also entitled to 14 euros). The workers t typically use plastic days of paid sick leave at half their minimum daily wage. However, according to the 108 Control of Pesticides Act No 33 of 1980

38 interviewees at both estates sick leave is only improve maternal and child health with the paid if the worker is hospitalised. For lesser goal of “ensuring that the productivity of illnesses, workers either lose the day’s wage female workers is not compromised due to ill or report to work despite being ill. In general, health or hygiene issues pertaining to them- interviewed workers appeared unaware of selves or their families”. In practice, improve- their entitlement to paid sick leave. According ments to the estate’s sanitation facilities (287 to them, “no work no pay” applies in all new toilets were built and 144 were reno- situations. vated) to reduce hygiene related illness (such as lice, diarrhoea, intestinal worms etc.) have It should be noted that none of the people been implemented as part of the project. interviewed at either the Pedro Estate or the In addition, the estate hospital was also Opata Estate had written employment con- renovated.109 tracts. Written employment contracts are not a statutory requirement in the plantation The statutory paid maternity leave in Sri sector in Sri Lanka. However, written employ- Lanka is 12 weeks110. According to the inter- ment contracts are often a requirement in viewees, the right of women to paid mater- social sustainability schemes as they are one nity leave is observed at both the Pedro way of ensuring workers know their rights. Estate and the Opata Estate in accordance with law. At both estates, women are also Gender rights assigned lighter tasks during pregnancy such as plucking tea leaves near roads where they More than half the labour force in the tea don’t have to walk long distances or climb plantation sector is made up of women. At up the hills. However, it can still be hard for both the Pedro Estate and the Opata Estate, pregnant women to reach the daily plucking women workers interviewed for this report target of 18 kilos, even during the harvest said that usually, they woke at 5am to attend season. In such situations, it is customary to household chores – cooking breakfast and among workers to share the tea leaves they lunch and sending their children to school. have plucked with the pregnant women to They then started work the tea gardens make up for whatever is missing from their around 7.30am and returned home at daily target. 5.30pm. Women normally get married at the age of 16–25. No child labour at Sri Lanka’s plantations Both maternity care and childcare facilities According to the International Labour are commonly neglected in Sri Lanka’s plan- Organization, in 2016, 2.3 percent of Sri tation sector. Data on maternal mortality is Lankan children worked and 1 percent were not available specifi cally for the estate sector engaged in child labour (mostly in hazardous but in districts with high estate population, forms of child labour). Of child labourers, such as Nuwara Eliya, the mortality rate is more than 16 percent were involved in crop relatively high (55 per 100,000 live births) farming.111 However, Sri Lankan tea is not compared to the national average (32.5 per included on the list maintained by the US 100,000 live births). Language is often also an State Department of goods produced by child issue: for example, according to interviewees labour.112 for this report, most healthcare professionals including midwives available at the estates or nearby clinics speak Sinhala, which the estate 109 For more information see https://www.hayleystea. workers struggle to understand. According to com/mother-and-child.html 110 Maternity Benefi ts (Amendment) Act, 2018 Kelani Valley Plantations, all estate staff speak 111 ILO, Child labour in Sri Lanka – At a glance, availab- Tamil. le at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--- asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-colombo/documents/publi- At the Pedro Estate, Save the Children Sri cation/wcms_616216.pdf Lanka has piloted a mother-and-child-friendly 112 US Department of State, List of Goods Producer with Child Labor or Forced Labor, https://www.dol.gov/ tea estate concept. The project aims to agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods (vie- wed on 26.6.2019)

39 According to the interviewees, neither the to the workers, unions at both estates are Pedro Estate or the Opata Estate use child highly politicised (and some have joined labour. Workers interviewed for this report unions for political reasons), and the unions in fact did not even want their children to are disconnected from workers and do not start working in the plantation sector when always represent the interests of women they reached the age of maturity, because of and youth in particular. As a woman worker the low salary, hard work, and lack of dignity who was interviewed for this report com- associated with plantation work. However, mented “the unions have obtained a mere Rs. some workers had sent their under-age chil- 20 wage increase after two years of negotia- dren to work outside the estate, for example, tions. Are unions really necessary to gain just at hotels, vegetable gardens, and shops, Rs. 20? We should all leave the unions.” etc. Families sent their under-age children to work to supplement the family income, Certifi cation and audits even though the children have the option of According to the interviewees, when audi- attending school for free. tors (who could be either certifi ers or foreign buyers as workers were generally unable Organisation rate is high, but unions do to distinguish between the two) visit the not represent the interests of workers estates, tea factory workers are allowed to The tea plantation industry is considered one interact with the them but tea pluckers or of the most organised industries in Sri Lanka. others working in tea fi elds are only rarely There are three major unions in the sector: allowed to do so. Sometimes, auditors have the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), approached workers in tea fi elds from nearby roads and not from inside the estates. the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union However, according to the interviewees, (LJEWU) and the Joint Plantation Trade Union these auditors did not ask questions about Center (JPTUC). The large trade unions like workers’ welfare and rights but focussed the CWC and the LJEWU are affi liated with on the amount of tea leaves workers pluck political parties and they are often mobi- and other such things related to their work lised to promote party policies113. Although instead. Interviewees also did not mention women make up the majority of the planta- that they knew of any benefi ts to their own tion unions’ membership, union strategies lives that resulted from certifi cations. are seen as dismissive of women’s issues and tend to portray women as mothers, wives and daughters instead of citizens and workers 114. According to the interviewees, estate management does not restrict their right to freedom of association in any manner. Of the interviewees, 15 out of 20 at the Pedro Estate and 13 out of 20 at the Opata Estate said they were members of a trade union. Trade union subscriptions are deducted directly from workers’ salaries at both estates. According

113 Chandrabose AS & Sivapragasam PP, (2015), Red Color of Tea, Central Issues that Impact the Tea Plan- tation Community in Sri Lanka, HDO Pub., Kandy Sri Lanka. 114 Janaka Biyanwila,Trade unions in the Sri Lankan tea plantations: Women worker struggles and ethnic identity politics, available at https://tasa.org.au/wp- content/uploads/2015/02/Biyanwila.pdf

40 5. Conclusions

Tea plantation workers in both India and Sri addition, workers felt that these deductions Lanka are members of society’s most disad- were made without their consent. At nearly vantaged groups and many live below the all the investigated plantations, workers had poverty line. Development taking place in sur- trouble understanding how their wages, rounding society has not trickled down to which typically comprise basic pay and a plantation communities. piece-rate based component, are calculated. In order to earn more, workers in particular in In both India and Sri Lanka, even now the the Nilgiris, work long hours without overtime legacy of colonialism is one of the key factors pay. Numerous workers felt that they could contributing to the vulnerable position of tea not turn down extra hours or Sunday work. plantation workers. Many present-day planta- tion workers are descendants of indentured Work in the tea plantations is physically labourers from the British colonial era. For demanding, especially for women. Plucking generations, they have lived on plantations, of tea leaves has traditionally been a task relatively isolated from the rest of society. performed almost exclusively by women. Today, they are still largely dependent on Workers tasked with plucking tea leaves must their employer not only for their income but walk long distances and carry heavy bags full also for various services such as housing, of tea leaves. In the tea fi elds, there is a lack childcare and health care, and in India also a of drinking water and sanitation as well as basic education. These services, offered by shelters that would provide cover from the the employer as in-kind benefi ts, are often rain and sun. In addition to work in the tea substandard. They are neither suffi cient to fi elds, women are also often responsible for cover the workers’ needs nor to lift them out all household chores such as cooking and of poverty. childcare. In both countries, trade unions that represent plantation workers are perceived For this report, Finnwatch conducted as marginalising women’s issues. research on the working and living condi- tions at six tea plantations in the Nilgiris and During the rainy season, tea pluckers get in the Barak Valley in Assam, India, and in drenched every day. In the Nilgiris area in the Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura districts in India, temperatures can fall to around zero Sri Lanka. The tea plantations that make up degrees Celsius. Workers and their family the research sample are suppliers to several members try to keep warm by drinking hot tea brands present in the Finnish consumer , as their houses have no heating. market, including Forsman Tea, Nordqvist, Colds, coughs, low fevers and different kinds Twinings and Unilever, the owner of e.g. the of muscle and joint pains are very common brand. among the members of plantation communi- ties, as are waterborne diseases and diseases According to the workers themselves, the related to poor hygiene such as diarrhoea. wages of the workers at all the investigated Even though plantation workers are entitled tea plantations were well below a living to free health care at estate hospitals, the wage. In Assam, India, the wages were even services provided are not suffi cient to meet well below the statutory minimum wage in their needs and workers end up spending a the agricultural sector. Several of the workers relatively large share of their meagre salaries had taken out loans to cover costs related to on private health care. However, their largest health care and their children’s education. In single expenditure is food. Even so, malnutri- Sri Lanka, workers’ wages, which were very tion and anaemia are common among planta- low to start off with, were further reduced tion workers and their family members. by the many deductions. In some cases, the deductions made from wages may even The relative isolation of tea plantation have been illegally high when added up. In workers, their low level of education and

41 limited savings prevent them from being able workers and their employers. Of the workers to fi nd alternative employment outside plan- who were interviewed for this report, only tations. However, those currently employed those who worked on a Fairtrade-certifi ed by tea plantations in both India and Sri Lanka plantation were able to name some benefi ts no longer want their children to take up plan- that they themselves gained as a result of tation work. In the Nilgiris, there are perhaps the plantations certifi cation. According to the some signs of the next generation being able fi ndings of a Finnwatch comparative analysis to escape the poverty trap as a large share in 2016, Fairtrade is also the most ambitious of the workers interviewed by Finnwatch of the tea certifi cation schemes and, for this had sent their children to vocational training reason alone, the recommended option for or other higher education in nearby cities. both consumers and companies. A compari- Even so, this was usually only possible, if they son between the most recent Fairtrade and took out loans. As the younger generation Rainforest Alliance audit fi ndings pertaining migrate to cities, tea plantations face labour to Jalinga Tea in Assam, India, also revealed, shortages. In the Nilgiris, vacancies are fi lled that Fairtrade monitoring had found a sig- by internal migrant workers from particularly nifi cantly larger number of issues related impoverished conditions in North India. to labour rights than monitoring by the Rainforest Alliance. Fairtrade also responded The plight of tea plantation workers has to Finnwatch in a more comprehensive been common knowledge for a long time. manner than the Rainforest Alliance. It is For example, in Assam, the state govern- important for certifi cation schemes to involve ment has made attempts to raise the sec- workers much more directly in their opera- tor’s wages, but so far these attempts have tions and in the monitoring of working con- fallen short due to fi erce opposition from ditions at certifi ed plantations, so they can planters’ associations. According to planta- more effectively improve workers’ conditions. tion owners, the upstream of the tea value chain simply does not have enough value to Certifi ed tea is becoming mainstream in the pay workers more. According to the manage- Finnish consumer market. Of the global tea ment of the plantations in the Nilgiris covered brands that dominate the Finnish market, in this report, labour costs already account Unilever, which owns e.g. the Lipton brand, is for 60 to 70 percent of their total production committed to sourcing fully certifi ed or veri- costs. In addition, even though all the plan- fi ed tea by 2020. Nordqvist is also commit- tations covered in this report were certifi ed ted to switching to fully certifi ed tea from under one or more sustainability certifi cation so-called risk countries by 2025. While this schemes, they were only able to sell a rela- report was being compiled, Nordqvist intro- tively small share of their produce as certi- duced a signifi cant increase in its certifi ed fi ed. This means that the cost of sustainable tea purchases. Grocery retailers Lidl Finland production is primarily borne by the pro- and S Group also increased their purchase of ducers alone. certifi ed tea, and now 100 per cent of the tea used in private label tea products sold by Lidl Although it has been found that certifi ca- Finland and S Group is certifi ed. Only about tion schemes have little infl uence on plan- half of Kesko’s purchases are certifi ed, and its tation workers’ wage levels and unionisa- monitoring of the uncertifi ed tea lacks credi- tion, certifi cation has been found to have bility. Twinings and Forsman do not have con- impact on issues related to occupational crete responsibility targets. health and safety, and in some cases also on workers’ living conditions and their chil- Although certifi cation schemes have their dren’s education. Even then, workers are shortcomings, switching to the purchase of generally poorly informed about certifi cation only certifi ed tea is still recommended for schemes, and in the worst-case scenario, this companies as a baseline for social respon- lack of awareness further emphasises the sibility, as working and living conditions at already imbalanced power relations between non-certifi ed farms are with great likelihood

42 still much worse. However, in order for com- panies to fulfi l their responsibility to respect human rights as outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, simply switching to certifi ed tea is still not enough. For example, certifi cation schemes cannot alone increase the wages of tea plan- tation workers to the level of a living wage. Doing so will also require cooperation and concrete input from buyers of certifi ed tea. Increasing demands to obligate companies to implement the UN Guiding Principles through legislation also increase pressure on certifi ca- tion schemes to strengthen certifi cation cri- teria and monitoring as well as transparency and traceability in certifi ed value chains. Finally, it should be noted that the climate crisis is threatening to make traditional tea growing areas unsuitable for the cultivation of tea. Changes in yield, quality and location of cultivation will have an impact on price, demand, the income and livelihood of planta- tion communities and on the entire econo- mies of the producing nations. Companies should calculate the carbon footprint of tea products they manufacture, market with their own brand/label or import, and devise a plan to minimise the footprint.

43 6. Recommendations

TEA HOUSES AND GROCERY CHAINS

• Buyer companies must commit to 100 in-kind benefi ts, attention must be given to percent certifi ed tea and favour schemes how well the services that are provided as that have the most ambitious criteria. The in-kind benefi ts correspond with workers’ Fairtrade standard for tea and the certifi ca- needs. Steps must also be taken to ensure tion criteria of the Rainforest Alliance are that the in-kind benefi ts that are taken into both currently being revised. Companies account in these calculations do not serve that use these schemes should take part to maintain the dependency of workers on in these processes and ensure, among their employer. It is also noteworthy that, other things, that workers have improved for example, the minimum wage legislation opportunities to participate in how these in India forbids inclusion of in-kind benefi ts schemes function and to e.g. monitoring in minimum wages. of the implementation of corrective action • Companies should not cease purchases plans. from producers when problems are dis- • Companies must pay tea producers a price covered at a plantation. Instead, they that enables socially and ecologically sus- should participate in the implementation tainable production. Irresponsible pur- of the necessary corrective actions. When chasing practices that emphasise cheap companies decide to cease purchases for prices only serve to obstruct other actions any other reason, they must assess the aimed at preventing and mitigating human human rights impacts of such decisions rights and environmental risks that these before implementation. In Northeast India, companies undertake. For example, pur- the closure of plantations facing economic chases from tea auctions are believed to problems has in extreme cases led to the reduce the prices paid for tea and to lead starvation deaths of the plantation’s former to short-term commercial relationships workers and their family members. between producers and buyers. When pos- • In Great Britain, many tea houses have sible, companies should therefore favour already provided public access to infor- direct purchases from certifi ed producers mation on their tea suppliers. Finnwatch and producer organisations. Direct pur- recommends that all tea houses as well as chases would also increase transparency grocery chains make supplier lists public and traceability in tea value chains. Labour where these apply to their private label costs must be taken into account sepa- tea products or the tea products they have rately during price negotiations. imported. Improved transparency would • Companies must work in cooperation make it easier to bring problems to the with other value chain actors to calculate attention of these companies. a living wage benchmark for tea growing • Companies must calculate the carbon areas and draw up a plan to close the gap footprint of tea products they manufac- between current wages and a living wage. ture, market with their own brand/label or Buyers must participate in the additional import, and draw up a plan to minimise the costs that this will create. When assessing footprint.

44 CERTIFICATION SCHEMES

• Certifi cation schemes must ensure that • Certifi cation schemes that do not already their focus is on improving the conditions have a price premium earmarked for the of plantation communities and increasing social and economic development of the more direct participation of plantation the plantation community should con- workers in their operations. The primary sider adopting such a premium. The use aim of engaging workers must be their of such premiums must be democratically empowerment. Ways to engage workers governed. At the same time, it should be could include such steps as sharing of audit ensured that the premiums are not used results and corrective action plans directly to fund things that are the employer’s with workers and involving workers in the responsibility. monitoring of the implementation of correc- • Certifi cation schemes must ensure tive actions. that they do not, for their part, enable • Certifi cations schemes must require the unfounded claims about responsibility, payment of a living wage to plantation which would also threaten their own credi- workers. If the gap between the current bility. This means, for example, that audit wage and a living wage is signifi cant, a time results should be made public. bound plan to close the gap must be drawn • Schemes should increase both trans- up. parency and traceability of certifi ed value • Certifi cation schemes must pay attention to chains so that buyer companies have the status and conditions of women at tea access to more information on the pos- plantations and ensure that women are e.g. sible problems in their supply chains and adequately represented in different bodies are better able to support producers in the that represent workers. implementation of corrective actions. The goal must be physical traceability when tea is sourced from large plantations.

INDIAN AND SRI LANKAN PLANTATION COMPANIES

• Plantation companies must without a delay to garden hospitals, they must ensure that address all fi ndings in this report and, at the the services provided still meet the legal very least, ensure that the statutory rights requirements. In addition, especially the of workers, such as annual leave and sick Glenworth Estate must make sure that their leave, are realised. Leave entitlements must workers know what services are available. be communicated openly to workers. In • Plantation companies must ensure that addition, companies must ensure that the their workers’ housing meets the criteria in-kind benefi ts, which the law in India and for a basic but acceptable dwelling at all Sri Lanka require plantations to provide to times. their workers, meet at least the statutory minimum criteria. Companies must ensure • Companies, in particular, must commit to that workers have access to potable water paying their workers a living wage. Workers and sanitation both in their living quarters must be able to earn enough not to be and where they work, and that there is an dependent on their employer for their basic adequate number of shelters in the tea needs. Payslips must be simplifi ed, or other fi elds. Workers tasked with pesticide use steps must be taken to ensure that workers must be given PPE and be provided regular understand how their salaries are calcu- training. When plantations are faced with lated. Workers who are illiterate must also delays in for example recruiting doctors be accommodated. Jalinga Tea must revise

45 its calculation for a living wage. A living • The Craigmore Plantations, the Glenworth wage is payable for normal working hours Estate and the United Nilgiri Tea Estates and therefore, additional income from must ensure that all workers, including small-scale farming cannot be taken into tea pluckers, receive overtime pay as account in calculations. appropriate. The plantations must ensure that workers feel they have the option of • In addition, Jalinga Tea must pay its workers refusing extra hours should they wish to do Rs. 30 a day in back wages starting from so. March 2018, as per the Assam government order, and pay Provident Fund contribu- • Plantation companies must introduce tions to authorities in a timely manner. In grievance mechanisms that meet the effec- addition, the company must ensure that tiveness criteria included in the UN Guiding workers are aware of their Provident Fund Principles for Business and Human Rights account number (e.g. in payslips) and, if and ensure their workers participation in necessary, workers must be assisted in various committees including welfare com- checking their Provident Fund account mittees, OHS committees and in the design, balance. implementation and monitoring of different development and other welfare projects aimed at improving their working and living conditions.

AUTHORITIES IN FINLAND

• According to Prime Minister Rinne’s human rights and environmental due dili- Government Programme, Finland will gence. The mandatory human rights due conduct a study with the goal of adopting diligence law that will be adopted in Finland a mandatory human rights due diligence must be based on the UN Guiding Principles law. During the writing of this report, on Business and Human Rights and include the Ministry of Economic Affairs and as vast a range of companies within its Employment sent out an invitation to tender scope as possible and effective measures for a judicial analysis that will explore the for enforcement. The law must be adopted legal obligation of companies to conduct during the current government term.

AUTHORITIES IN INDIA

• The Central Government must ensure that of tea plantation workers’ and the needs- the new Labour Code on Occupational based criteria for a minimum wage estab- Health and Safety at least limits how large lished by the Supreme Court of India in its a share in-kind benefi ts can make up of ruling on the Reptakos Brett vs workmen tea plantation workers’ wages, and ensure case. that plantation workers and their family • The Tamil Nadu State Government must members have access to basic public work in collaboration with the home states welfare services. of workers to issue welfare schemes and • The Assam State Government must ensure bring the workers within the scope of social the timely completion and publication security entitlements available for other of the report of the one-man committee workers. The government should also estab- that the Minimum Wages Advisory Board lish and maintain support and counselling appointed to investigate objections to pro- centres for migrant workers where they can posed minimum wages. Revised wages access information, counselling and support must take into account the wage demands in the event of emergencies.

46 AUTHORITIES IN SRI LANKA

• The Government of Sri Lanka must review • The authorities must allocate suffi cient plantation labour laws with the aim of resources to plantation development pro- aligning laws with international labour grammes, with the aim of ensuring, for rights standards such as the ILO Plantation example, the plantation community’s food Convention (C110). security and adequate health care services and set up a separate body to monitor the • The authorities must take action to ensure implementation of such programmes. The that the minimum daily wage of planta- use of British colonial era line houses and tion workers is a living wage, for example, line rooms to house plantation workers, by establishing a suffi ciently high minimum must be discontinued and new houses that wage for the sector. meet the requirements of modern times must be built for the plantation community without undue delay.

47