Dignity of the plantation worker
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In the past few months going through a lot of literature, events and even new coffee table books as Sri Lanka’s primary export commodity tea marks its 150th anniversary, there seems to be something missing in the celebrations: The worker!The Sri Lanka Tea Board and the industry at large have prepared a year of celebrations to mark a momentous occasion when the ‘father’ of tea, Scottish lad James Taylor planted the first tea seedlings at Loolecondera estate in Galaha in the central hills in 1867.
Yes it’s an occasion to celebrate and yes, let’s have a party as the powers that be at the Tea Board propose to do with a ‘Global Ceylon Tea Party’ soon to be hosted by Sri Lankan missions worldwide on the same day serving ‘fine Ceylon Teas’ and a specially-created biscuit for the occasion by Maliban Biscuits.
The celebrations began on January 19, 2017 with the unveiling of a sculpted bust of James Taylor at the head office of the board; this was followed by an issue of a first day cover and special stamps, while a 10-rupee coin is also to be released in August. Education fairs in the seven tea-producing regions of the country to reach out to the local community on the importance of the tea industry, a commemorative book, a charity auction benefiting the workforce, an international tea convention and an exhibition are also some of the events lined up.
Also lined up is a competition to select the best tea-plucker, the best tea-taster and the best tea-blender. But is that enough recognition of the estate workers who have toiled hard and contributed their blood, sweat and tears for 150 years? A competition is more of a cosmetic gesture, a ‘feel good’ event for the authorities rather than more concrete measures to give workers their due place in history and also society.
As far as the plantation workers are concerned, the partying is by their ‘masters’ just like the legendary song ‘Master Sir’ by singer/song writer Nimal Master who wrote: ‘Sir, would you give me dignity//Master sir, will you treat me kind and nice.’
And while more eloquent was songstress Neela Wickremasinghe’s Sinhala version of that classic with lyrics like ‘Master Sir mage himi thena denawado//Ane sir, anukampa nosithedo….,’ where is the dignity of labour for plantations workers throughout many generations?
As I ponder on what the future of the plantation labour would be and whether they would still be a captive labour force (that’s the only way the troubled tea sector can be successful, according to its managers), there is a ruckus in the kitchen. Kussi Amma Sera is heating up a pot of water to prepare the evening tea and muttering under her breath. “Mone aparadayakda, meka. They karaya party daanawa, habai wathu kamkaruwa gena mokowath nehe.”
“Eh kiyanne,” I ask. “Aei, paththare kiyanne loku party thiyanawa kiyala. Mewa, thiyana minissunta vitharai,” she said in disgust, referring to the 150th anniversary tea celebrations.
While she has a point, my attention was also drawn to a newspaper interview with a minister-cum-trade unionist from the plantation sector with an apt headline: “Remove the lines.” He was talking about line-rooms – rows of crude shanties in one line and at one time like cattle sheds – built during British colonial times to house workers brought from India, and the need to remove them once-and-for-all from the plantations and restore some dignity to the workers. While housing conditions have improved over the past 30-40 years, remnants of line-rooms still exist in some plantations.
While there is a debate over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Sri Lanka and whether it was to celebrate UN Vesak Day or address plantation workers (of Indian origin), the meeting gave workers more pride and dignity than what any political leader – apart from veteran trade union leader Saumiamoorthy Thondaman – has done for them.
The plantation industry will argue that workers get a lot of benefits. This may be true to a point but is there dignity in this job; aren’t they still perceived as a generation of slaves – closeted in one location, with a few frills and cosmetic gestures to make them respectable and comfortable?
As stated in a recent KAS column titled ‘Tryst with tea’, workers “… still remain far removed from the rest of Sri Lanka’s unskilled workforce and still considered a captive labour force – almost at the beck and call of their ‘masters’.”
The grand ceremonies to mark 150 years of tea sans proper acknowledgement of the role of the workers in an industry that for many decades was the biggest contributor of the country’s foreign exchange, is like playing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.
Life hasn’t changed much for generations of estate workers apart from a few climbing the ladder of success and achieving the impossible – a medical doctor or a CEO. For those who regularly visit the plantations, workers can be seen with baskets held with straps on their heads plucking tea among the bushes, a sight that hasn’t changed for decades.
Many events are being held or were held to mark the 150th anniversary including a mega event in China in which more than 60 people from Sri Lanka took part. Was a worker in the delegation or was it considered infra dig or not important enough to include one? Similarly, have workers and/or their representatives been invited to any of the celebrations this year apart from the ‘tokenism’ of a ‘best tea-plucker’ contest? Don’t they too deserve a place in the sun as the most important link in the tea industry?
A 3-4 day holiday tour abroad for a representative group of workers sponsored by the state or the plantation industry might give these workers some dignity and not leave them completely out of the tea party.