Kumar of Pembilai Orumai speaks about the plight of Munnar Plantation Workers

Hello everybody. We are the 4th generation from our family working in the Tata company. First my grandfather, then my father and now, it is me. We were part of a trade union and have been following the guidance of this union. However, we were not aware about our own pay. So far there was no facilities or resources to educate our children. Now, that our kids are able to read and are little educated, based on the information they gather from the external world about the tea price, wage, etc. we became aware that we do not get proper wage. And as a result we got into wage and bonus struggles with the company. Plantation Labour Committee (PLC) members go to negotiate with the company, they become in sync with company, and they come back and give some information to the workers. With this we continued our membership with the union. We pay our union subscription fee. If we do not pay proper union subscription fee we will not get jobs in the company too. Company and Union work for each other.

We did a small struggle 10 years before. During that struggle, Lakshmi, Kallar and Yelapatti divisions were locked out illegally. They increased the workload by making us pluck 16Kgs of leaves per day instead of the regular 14Kgs/day without consulting any of us. The wage was only Rs.82/Kg. When we demanded for higher wage, management complained that the work is slow. Then, they made the daily minimum requirement to 23Kgs.

During that struggle, there was no Communist Party of India (Marxist), (CPIM) involved in the struggle. We approached CPIM and they brought us back from the lockout. No one noticed the secret increase of workload. Only when we tried to verify how slow the work is, we came to know that instead of 14 kg we are suppose to do 16kg. Since they raised it to 23kg, this is not at all slow. So, the company was made to stop the lockout and were obliged to give Rs.20/- more as wage. With some further increment we were able to get Rs100-120 as wage. After that there has been no increment for 10 years. They changed the company name from Tata to Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company (P) Limited (KHDP) and announced that bonus will be just 8.33% as per government prescription. We continued like this for another 5 years. Union did not help. PLC did not help. Monthly compensation to compensate inflation was also not given. We ourselves realized that the pay and bonus is not adequate. Usually when we collect leaves more than 100Kgs, the measurement shows only up to 80Kgs. Thirteen varieties of tea are produced by this company. Only with external knowledge and from the price paid by the common public we realized that we are only paid Rs.120/Kg.

With us putting in this much work, how come is the company still undergoing loss? According to me, the answer is that the trade union along with the company are mishandling the situation.

Only after this we started asking for more wages. Trade union said that they will get higher wages for us. The trade union and PLC discuss with management, come back and say that the management will not be able to increase the pay. They also add that the company is undergoing loss. They make us work from 6am in the morning. They give a break at 12pm. We have to go home which is around 3-4 kms away for lunch and come back before 1pm. If there is even 5 mins delay they will consider it as one hour delay. Without seeing our children and life partner properly we are working for this company. With us putting in this much work, how come is the company still undergoing loss? According to me, the answer is that the trade union along with the company are mishandling the situation. With no proper union, we fought and brought Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) with help from Lakshmi and Kallar divisions people. CITU also started cooperating with the management. Then we realized that we have to fight on our own.

With women taking the lead the struggle again started. Trade union responded that if they were to pay 20% bonus then the company would had to be shut down. It is undergoing loss. Without the trade union we fought independently. People who gave just drinking water during the struggle were beaten by trade union. But, we fought and got 20% bonus. It is split into 8.33% bonus and 11.67 betterment charges. These betterment charges came out of our struggle. We know from Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) that the government provides subsidy. But, we do not know where and how these subsidies work. Manoj identified that company gets subsidy on power (electricity) and that is how we know the information. Because of this Manoj has lost his job. We pointed out to the company that you have profits on electricity, factory, etc. Then, why are you denying us our wage. We are the ones leading the fight from the front, but the trade union takes the credit. We are not against the company. We just want our proper wage. For taking up this fight we are losing our jobs.

Similarly, Gomathi also got affected. We are all part of the union. We do not fight independently. In spite of this, we, individually, get targetted. It is all because trade union works with management and betrays us, puts us into slavery. If you are in the union you get some job. If we are not a member of the union we get over burdened with work. As a result of all this struggle the pennurumai/Pembilai Orumai  (women’s right) was born and which is now fighting for us. We are also now contesting election. India National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) got couple of our members bribed and pulled them into their organization. Gomati also went through tough time. She was made to join union. Tortured with lot of work. Lot of efforts went on to break pennurimai. Pennurimai will be broken. We know that. We are working honestly towards keeping it up. Gomati struggled with us as part of pennurimai. She only sung slogans prepared by All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). But, she is suspended from the job and Manoj is also facing the same problem. The reason for suspension is that we talked something against management. We only asked for the right wage. Office bearers of union never go to work properly. They will come to union office, do some supervision and go home. But they get paid. While they are like that we are just asking for the fair wage. For this we are accused and suspended. We heard that trade union members have got 5 houses. This is confirmed by TV reports too. We went to discuss with trade minister with the help of government officials. He mentioned that we should not be using machineries to do our work. But, the company uses machines. Retrenchment is high. Initially, they started with Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).

We have been in slavery for 4 generations. We will struggle for at least Rs.500/- wage from the company. We will fight for fair wage. We will come out from the slavery. We will fight through pennurimai.

It is difficult to work even within one kilometer radius. But, we work around 4Kms radius. During British period, the workplace was just 10 minutes away. Now, we are walking around 3-4 Kms. Women have to do household chores and then take care of the work. When we finish the first half at 12 noon, just to measure the leaves, even if it takes 1 minute for each worker, it will take 40 minutes for 40 workers. But, post lunch work will still start at 1pm. Within 20 minutes we have to get back to work. Even 5 minutes delay costs us 1 hour of pay loss. They give us wood for household fuel which costs Rs.500. They also give rice whose cost is deducted from our salary. When we complained regarding this to PLC, they told that wood and rice should be given free to the workers. They became aware of it only after we showed that the cost for these facilities were deducted from our salary. They themselves were sad about it. Even government officials did not know about these facts. Similarly, wool has to be given free. Even after this much struggle, very recently, company has deducted Rs.2200/- for wool. But, we found out that the same wool is sold in Munnar at Rs.500/-. Trade union has never talked about it. It works not for workers’ benefit but for its own benefit. With pennurumai, we got all these. We got 20% bonus and Rs.63 increase in pay. Trade union only fought among themselves on who should get credit for having obtained these benefits. Since the times of British, only Rs.18 was being given to whitewash the house. In the current economical situation, it easily costs us two days salary to get the house whitewashed. After complaining to PLC, we now get Rs.70. But, we need at least one day pay for whitewash. This is company’s house. We cannot easily modify it. Since this is company’s house, company has to give us money to whitewash. If we buy material for whitewash, it will easily cost us Rs.500-700. So, we will have pennurumai fight for us.

We still have lot of struggles in front of us. Next is hospital facilities. We hear that our bones are worn out because of our work. But, we do not know what is the remedy for it. We do not have options. We have to go to General Hospital (GH). There they will give us medicine and ask us to take rest. To take rest for one day, we have to lose one day wage. PLC tells us that you should not use machineries. The wage is to do the work with hands. If we get any injuries because of machineries, we will not get any benefit from company too. Will have to struggle through pennurimai. We have been in slavery for 4 generations. We will struggle for at least Rs.500/- wage from the company. We will fight for fair wage. We will come out from the slavery. We will fight through pennurimai. Trade union has to side with us and work with us. We will reduce our work. If company give us fair wage, we will work for their benefits too. We will give our lives to get our struggle succeed. We will give our lives to pennurimai.