On International Tea Day, We Must Think Of Tea Workers on the Verge of a Humanitarian Crisis

[International Tea Day - Media Clipping]

On the occasion of the 12th International Tea Day (ITD), the representatives of tea garden workers in India, affirmed the relevance of the 'December 2005 Declaration on the Rights Read more…of Tea Workers and Small Growers'[1] and urged the governments of the tea producing countries and multi-lateral bodies including FAO and the ILO to take immediate steps to avert a colossal humanitarian crisis facing workers and their families dependent on tea industry. Ashok Ghosh, General Secretary, United Trades Union Congress (UTUC) and Convenor of ITD-India has called for the setting up of a Wage Board to decide on the wages of plantation workers. He urged that wages of tea garden workers should be determined and fixed as per the norms and principles laid down in 15th ILC and Supreme Court directives, in particular, considering 3 consumption unit for a worker without gender discrimination and with a component of Variable Dearness Allowance to compensate for inflation. He also asked for housing rights for tea garden workers.