This is an epilogue to my previous blog post called “A cuppa history”. Something was missing. When I thought about it, I realized that my tea story with its happy ending had misplaced optimism. I had forgotten an essential element. What became of the poor living conditions of the tea plantation worker? Dreading what I would find, and expecting the worst, I looked it up.
Just as expected, the living conditions of the workers continue to be terrible. They live in broken houses with no toilets and defecate amongst the tea bushes. There are reports of minors working full time, and women, as usual, get the lowest wages while pulling the maximum weight.
Of course this comes as no surprise. Once terrible living conditions have been established and accepted, the group in question rarely gets a better deal. The post-independence, Indian (Swadeshi) label added a jingoistic ring to the tea but no longer did our esteemed and formerly concerned revolutionaries and politicians cared about the living conditions and exploitation of the tea workers. On the contrary, once the tea craze caught on, production ramped up, thereby adding to the workforce while having a similar or even lowered living conditions than the past. No surprises, right?
Surprise! Fast forward to 2015. There’s an article in business-humanrights.org that talks about BBC’s investigation of the inhumane living conditions in tea plantations in Assam! Wow, just wow! So the British started off with inhumane living conditions right since 1850s. And now they launch a new investigation and publish their holier-than-thou findings in 2015!
As expected, pandemonium follows this “research”. British tea brands such as PG Tips, Tetleys and Twinings say they will work to improve the living conditions, following the special insight that they have gained from this report. Harrods stopped selling some tea products, and Rainforest Alliance, which is an ethical certification organization, says their audit process may have some flaws. Popcorn anyone?
Assam company, which owns these plantations, calls the allegations “baseless and false”. The great Tata, who Indians will swear by, said that its membership of Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) demonstrates its commitment to improving living conditions in the tea industry. So Tata says, hey! I pay membership to this fraud organization ETP and so we’re in the clear!
Lastly, Taylors of Harrogate, which owns the Yorkshire tea brand, told the BBC that they were “extremely concerned” by BBC’s findings and are “exploring “investigating as a matter of urgency”. I guess it’s so urgent that its being explored urgently since about 175 years. I have no words.
I write this while drinking my cup of tea and am filled with sadness and a guilt that was never mine until yesterday when I explored this topic. So what’s the solution? Giving up tea? Drink water? That is possible. Any other fruit or milk drinks will have similar horror stories. Of this I have no doubt. What a sad state of affairs.
Reference:
elfhut 