Building a Wider
Horizon With Labour
Globalization is restructuring the tea industry worldwide. Tea is becoming a branded commodity controlled by Multi National Corporations (MNCs). The old estate system of tea production is giving way to contract farming and small grower production. On one hand this is changing the status and rights of millions of workers engaged in tea production and on the other hand creating new classes of producers in the production chain. In this context, World Social Forum (WSF) 2004 taken up the issue and organized a workshop to understand the changes taking place in the tea industry and to evolve strategies to defend the rights of workers and small growers. This is the detailed report of the WSF Workshop “Globalisation and its Effect on Tea Plantation Workers” held at Mumbai on 18 January, 2004.
