This paper outlines the Ethical Tea Partnership's position on living wages in the tea industry globally. It describes some of the causes of low pay and the Ethical Tea Partnership’s approach to catalyse change.

Iris MacFarlane was the wife of a tea plantation manager in Assam in the 1950s. Green Gold begins with her account of life in Assam during this period, observations of the living and working conditions of workers on the tea estate, and the challenges to her attempts to improve them. The main book by her son, Alan, traces the history of tea, its links with the British Empire and its impact on those that grow, trade in, profit from and drink it. He quotes extensively from historical documents including first hand accounts from tea pioneers as far back as 1866.

A policy briefing which presents the findings of a study of 12 certified and non certified South Asian tea estates. The study investigated the role of Fairtrade certification in moves towards decent work for tea plantation workers in South India, the Northeast Indian state of Assam and Sri Lanka. The findings of the study assess that it continues to be a challenge to make a real impact for workers within certified producer organizations. The policy brief then suggests steps towards a worker-driven Fairtrade approach on South Asian tea plantations.

[I]t can be estimated that roughly 200 million agricultural workers are chronically undernourished… Several factors have worsened the situation for plantation workers over the last twenty years… The impact of market dynamics on the working conditions of [tea] plantation workers and how this in turn leads to a violation of their right to food is examined in detail in the section on the tea sector. This sector is characterized by the concentration of market power and in particular by a very strong vertical integration, with three companies controlling 80% of global tea trade. Two of these companies (Unilever and Tata) are also the main tea packers and thus cover the most profitable segments of the chain (apart from retail). Sourcing costs for packers and retailers have gone down in the last decades. For producers, downward price pressure of plantation crops, rising oil prices and in some countries the depreciation of the US dollar against their local currencies made the tea business difficult.

In India, we have a vast indigenous knowledge base which can offer solutions to pest control. This should then be combined with a holistic ecological farming approach that improves soil health, plant physiology and rebuild biodiversity. The conventional approaches towards sustainability currently are farm centric, and are focused on improving individual micro ecosystems while the wider region and the ecology remain mired in conventional chemical intensive practices hence hampering the growth of micro systems created. The journey to document plantations, which truly stand out as beacons of hope in the abyss of the chemical treadmill, has taken us from the hills of Darjeeling to the plains of the Terai and the Dooars and across the Brahmaputra into the Bodo Territorial Administration region, to Meghalaya and finally down south to the Nilgiris. The stories shared in the following case studies talk about tea growers, their perseverance and techniques they have adopted to make the tea they grow, truly sustainable. These cases studies are not at attempt to compile a definitive list of alternative pest control techniques used on tea in India but they do tell stories of success, restored biodiversity and prosperity from regions where pests and chemical usage have impoverished thousands of farmers.

A large range of grievance mechanisms are available in the tea sector and one of the questions examined in this case is why so few grievances have been brought through transnational non-judicial grievance mechanisms. A key focus is therefore on barriers of access to redress, including entrenched informal barriers based on the structure of social relations and organisation at the local level. The case study also examines the operation of formal transnational complaint handling mechanisms including the Rainforest Alliance certification system and the International Finance Corporation’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (‘CAO’), and their interaction with local grievance mechanisms operated by government, trade unions or plantation management. Where transnational grievance mechanisms have been used, their relatively weak leverage has meant that they have had little impact on facilitating individual remedy. However, where involvement of transnational non-judicial grievance mechanisms has provided visibility, legitimacy or other forms of indirect support to organising grassroots workers, the case suggests that engagement with these mechanisms can sometimes have a small, positive effect on reinforcing wider pressures for improvements to working and living conditions in the sector.

The Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) in Lidl’s Kenyan tea supply chain was conducted in 2020, by Lidl Great Britain on behalf of the Lidl group. The assessment considered the different perspectives of people that are affected by Lidl’s business activities, including potentially impacted rights-holders, and also engaged with key stakeholders along the supply chain. These included Kenyan smallholder farmers, tea estate workers, our direct suppliers and key Lidl staff, including commercial teams and buyers.

This report presents the findings of the Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) for the ALDI Nord Group of companies (hereafter “ALDI”) on the tea supply chain originating from the camellia sinensis plants in India, conducted by Ergon Associates... The HRIA considered the different perspectives of all rightsholders identified as impacted by ALDI’s India tea supply chain activities, including tea estate workers and communities, particularly women and tribal groups (Adivasi). Trade unions and civil society organisations with a history of supporting tea industry workers were engaged to understand their views on the most significant rights issues for workers and the most important steps commercial actors can take to address them. Despite limitations on conducting extended, in-person engagement with rightsholders, some direct (albeit remote) engagement with rightsholders was possible, chiefly through workshops with trade unions. Stakeholder engagement also included interviews with ALDI’s key suppliers and a selection of producers in their supply chain. Researchers and industry experts were interviewed to fact-check findings and provide additional context to understand the dynamics in the industry.

A review of eight documents spanning 15 years of the Assam tea industry by leading organisations including Columbia Law School, the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition, Oxfam, SOMO, Traidcraft and War on Want. The reports draw on primary research and/or wider literature reviews including local academic studies and historical documents, dating back to 1866. Four issues emerge repeatedly: wages, housing, sanitation and health. The review highlights a set of common recommendations for governments, retailers, producers, certification bodies and consumers to tackle these problems.

THIRST’s new 112-page report – drawing on over 200 authoritative references – which finds that despite a plethora of human rights standards, policies and conventions, and a thriving industry, breaches of the human rights of workers and farmers persist across the tea sector. The report is the first phase, focusing on Assessment, in a three-year tea sector-wide Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA). It does not contain analysis or recommendations. These will come in the subsequent phases of the HRIA. The second phase, beginning in July 2022 will focus on Analysis of these findings through key informant interviews, a global tea producer survey and field visits to assess alternative approaches to tea production and trading. The third phase will be Action planning – co-creating with industry stakeholders a ‘highway map’ for a fair and thriving tea industry, and the final phase will be Accountability – monitoring and evaluating progress.