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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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December 15 is International Tea Day Dec. 15 will be declared as the First International Tea Day at the International Tea Convention to be held on Dec. 13 and 14 in New Delhi, India. This convention organised by Institute of Social Development, Sri Lanka and the Centre for Education and Communication, New Delhi, and the major trade union federations of India will be attended by Labour Ministers, trade unionists, representatives of tea smallholders and others from tea producing countries. The International Tea Day (ITD) will be dedicated to the struggling workers in tea plantations and affirm their rights as well as of the tea smallholders for the improvement in their conditions. The ITD provides an opportunity to highlight the plight of those sections who are being buffeted by the ravages of global trade regime. The objective of the Convention is to discuss the current crisis in the tea industry. As a result of globalisation, workers in tea trade get a lesser wage and the smallholders do not get reasonable price for their produce. Though the consumer countries pay very high prices, brand names reap higher profit, which do not go to the producers. In this context, the Convention will discuss the situation of the tea industry, the labour market, tea plantation workers, tea smallholdings, rights of tea workers and smallholders. In Sri Lanka nearly one million workers are involved in the tea industry directly or indirectly. 250,000 tea smallholders contribute 62 percent of the total tea production in the country. Last year Sri Lanka exported 308 million kilograms of tea and earned Rs. 74,897 million. Kenya holds first place. However, India is the leading producer of tea. Labour Relations and Foreign Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne in his message to the Convention said that he considered the First International Tea Day celebration and the Convention as an important timely event which would bring to the attention of the wider public locally and internationally the problems faced by the tea industry. The Convention,that will be attended by delegates from India, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe, will draw a Charter of Demands on behalf of tea workers and tea smallholders. (MPM) |
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