This archive report was first published on 18 November 2019.
Published on November 18, 2019, multinational tea firms in Kenya have reduced the volume of work to be performed via manual labor to 45 kilogrammes of green tea per day.
The remaining plucking is done mechanically, a move that has been met with resistance from the Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union (KPAWU).
The union has rejected the proposal, citing concerns that the low volume of work available for manual tea pickers will lead to mass unemployment in the sector.
Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union National Vice-Chairman Eliakim Ochieng warned of a workers' strike 'unless the companies suspend such punitive tea plucking conditions.'
According to Ochieng, the union will have 'no option but call workers strike unless the companies suspend such punitive tea plucking conditions.'
The multinational tea firms have cited the need to cut down production costs and cope with challenges of unsteady global tea prices as the reason for the move.
