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The Munnar Plantation strike was a nine-day strike led by the women of the Munnar Kannan Devan Hills Plantations Limited (KDHPL). It was famous for it being an all-women uprising leading to the formation of an all-women union Pengal Orumai (women's unity) and is referred to as a turning point in Kerala's political history. [1] [2] [3]
The salary of plantation workers in the state is decided by the Plantation Labour Committee. PLC comprises representatives of trade unions, plantation managements, and the government. PLC meeting and discussion is possible only if the labour minister takes the initiative. The strike began on 6 September with about 5000 workers, the majority being women, agitating in front of the KDHPL office after the management struck down the bonus to ten percent, which was 20 percent the previous year, citing dips in profit and falling tea prices – this despite the daily wage being a mere Rs 234 for 12 hours of labour and the fact that the daily output per worker had increased to 31 kilograms from 21. The main demands of the workers was a hike in wages from Rs.232 to Rs.500. [4] One of the most important facts about this strike, is that the agitation was led and organised by the women workers who steadfastly refused to allow men into it, citing reasons such as that they were easily swayed by alcohol and that it was the women who did the actual work of plucking leaves and carrying and loading the burden, which comes with greater occupational hazards such as knee damage and pesticide inhalation. The country's biggest trade unions such as AITUC (CPI), INTUC (Congress) and CITU (CPM) were forbidden from co-opting the movement, even though at one time they tried to barge into their protest because according to the workers, they had done precious little to improve their conditions and instead preferred to cosy up to the management. A controversy was started a spark happened between Pembilai Orumai and Mm mani in April 2017 [5]
The government eventually intervened, and conducted negotiations with the striking workers led by the all-women union, Pembilai Orumai. They were given front seats at the negotiations led by the Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy, and the Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, and on 13 September, their demands were finally met. [6]
Similar strikes were soon called by women workers at other places including Harrisons Malayalam Ltd's tea estates in Idukki and Wayanad districts, where 500 women workers went on strike and over 11,000 workers of TATA Tea resorted to ‘go slow’ plucking in peak plucking season, one of the slogans being ‘we pluck tea leaves, you pluck our lives.'
Varahagiri Venkata Giri was an Indian politician and activist who served as the fourth president of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. He also served as the third vice president of India from 13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969. He was the first president to be elected as an independent candidate. He was succeeded by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed as president in 1974. After the end of his full term, Giri was honoured by the Government of India with the Bharat Ratna in 1975. Giri died on 24 June 1980.
Munnar is a town and hill station located in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. Munnar is also called the "Kashmir of South India" and is a popular honeymoon destination.
Trade unions in India are registered and file annual returns under the Trade Union Act (1926). Statistics on trade unions are collected annually by the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, Government of India. As per the latest data, released for 2012, there were 16,154 trade unions which had a combined membership of 9.18 million. The trade union movement in India is largely divided along political lines and follows a pre-Independence pattern of overlapping interactions between political parties and unions. The net result of this type of system is debated as it has both advantages and disadvantages. According to the data submitted by various trade unions to the Ministry of Labour and Employment as part of a survey, INTUC with a combined membership of 33.3 million, has emerged as the largest trade union in India as of 2013.
Darjeeling tea is a tea made from Camellia sinensis var. sinensis that is grown and processed in Darjeeling district or Kalimpong district in West Bengal, India. Since 2004, the term Darjeeling tea has been a registered geographical indication referring to products produced on certain estates within Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The tea leaves are processed as black tea, though some estates have expanded their product offerings to include leaves suitable for making green, white, and oolong teas.
Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka are Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. They are also known as Malayaga Tamilar, Hill Country Tamils, Up-Country Tamils or simply Indian Tamils. They predominantly descend from workers sent from Southern India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee, tea and rubber plantations. Some also migrated on their own as merchants and as other service providers. These Tamil speakers mostly live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country, yet others are also found in major urban areas and in the Northern Province. A majority of Hill Country Tamils are predominantly descendants from the lower working castes of South India. Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian caste origins. They are instrumental in the plantation sector economy of Sri Lanka. In general, socio-economically their standard of living is below that of the national average and they are described as one of the poorest and most neglected groups in Sri Lanka. In 1964 a large percentage were repatriated to India, but left a considerable number as stateless people. By the 1990s most of these had been given Sri Lankan citizenship. Most are Hindus with a minority of Christians and Muslims amongst them. There are also a small minority followers of Buddhism among them. Politically they are supportive of trade union-based political parties that have supported most of the ruling coalitions since the 1980s.
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Labor relations or labor studies is a field of study that can have different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In an international context, it is a subfield of labor history that studies the human relations with regard to work in its broadest sense and how this connects to questions of social inequality. It explicitly encompasses unregulated, historical, and non-Western forms of labor. Here, labor relations define "for or with whom one works and under what rules. These rules determine the type of work, type and amount of remuneration, working hours, degrees of physical and psychological strain, as well as the degree of freedom and autonomy associated with the work." More specifically in a North American and strictly modern context, labor relations is the study and practice of managing unionized employment situations. In academia, labor relations is frequently a sub-area within industrial relations, though scholars from many disciplines including economics, sociology, history, law, and political science also study labor unions and labor movements. In practice, labor relations is frequently a subarea within human resource management. Courses in labor relations typically cover labor history, labor law, union organizing, bargaining, contract administration, and important contemporary topics.
Labour in India refers to employment in the economy of India. In 2020, there were around 476.67 million workers in India, the second largest after China. Out of which, agriculture industry consist of 41.19%, industry sector consist of 26.18% and service sector consist 32.33% of total labour force. Of these over 94 percent work in unincorporated, unorganised enterprises ranging from pushcart vendors to home-based diamond and gem polishing operations. The organised sector includes workers employed by the government, state-owned enterprises and private sector enterprises. In 2008, the organised sector employed 27.5 million workers, of which 17.3 million worked for government or government owned entities. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that India is only doing 43.9% of what should be possible at its level of income for the right to work. Employees are routinely taken advantage of by their employers because of loose labour laws across all industries in India.
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Kannan Devan Hills is a large village located in Devikulam Taluk of Idukki District in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated near the state border with Tamil Nadu, about 25 kilometres northeast of the district seat Painavu, and 8 kilometres north of the subdistrict seat Devikulam. In 2011, it is home to 55,738 residents.
Alexander Ekanayake Gunasinha trade unionist and politician. A pioneering trade union leader, known as the "Father of the Labour Movement", he was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party, Sri Lanka's first labour organisation. A former mayor of Colombo, he served as the Minister without portfolio, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip in the First Parliament of Sri Lanka and Ceylon's Ambassador to Burma and Indonesia.
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