In a country plagued by sexism they challenged the male-dominated world of trade unions and politics, refusing to allow men to take over their campaign.
And what's more, they won.
You may well have enjoyed the fruits of their labour. The women are tea pickers from the beautiful south Indian state of Kerala. They work for a huge plantation company, Kanan Devan Hills Plantations, which is part-owned and largely controlled by the Indian multinational, Tata, the owner of Tetley Tea.
The spark that ignited the protest was a decision to cut the bonus paid to tea pickers, but its roots go much deeper than that.
Tea workers in India are not well treated. When I investigated the industry in Assam last month I found living and working conditions so bad, and wages so low, that tea workers and their families were left malnourished and vulnerable to fatal illnesses.
It seems conditions in Kerala are not much different. Full story...
Related posts:
And what's more, they won.
You may well have enjoyed the fruits of their labour. The women are tea pickers from the beautiful south Indian state of Kerala. They work for a huge plantation company, Kanan Devan Hills Plantations, which is part-owned and largely controlled by the Indian multinational, Tata, the owner of Tetley Tea.
The spark that ignited the protest was a decision to cut the bonus paid to tea pickers, but its roots go much deeper than that.
Tea workers in India are not well treated. When I investigated the industry in Assam last month I found living and working conditions so bad, and wages so low, that tea workers and their families were left malnourished and vulnerable to fatal illnesses.
It seems conditions in Kerala are not much different. Full story...
Related posts:
- Story of a sacred mountain in India:the Dongria Kondh fight Vedanta...
- Kodaikanal won't (Unilever clean up your mess)
- Campaigners defeat Coca-Cola plant in South India...
- Coca-Cola forced out of $25 million factory in India...
- How one indigenous woman took on a multinational mining corporation... and won!
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