Building a Wider
Horizon With Labour
The decision to observe International Tea Day was taken after deliberations among various international organizations and trade unions during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, 2004 and Porto Alegre, 2005. In India the call to observe International Tea Day was given by the trade unions — AITUC, AICCTU, BMS, CITU, HMS, INTUC, UTUC, NTUI, and TUCC — and the Centre for Education and Communication, New Delhi. Subsequently, a one-day programme was held in New Delhi on December 15, 2005. Besides the trade union members, small growers, voluntary organizations, and academicians were among the key participants in the programme. In 2006, celebration of the ITD was organised by the Institute for Social Development (ISD) in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Since then it has observed each year world over, particularly by the tea producing countries, reaffirming the rights of tea workers and small tea growers. It is an honour that the United Nations has recognised the International Tea Day and, hereafter,it will be observed on May 21 every year. This is the highest level of recognition for the tea community that all should cherish, avowing that rights of tea plantation workers and small tea growers would be observed in earnest.
