Everyday People: Fight Human Trafficking on Corporate Plantations

I know this is long. Please read it anyway.

WalkFree.org

********CAMPAIGN UPDATE**********

In response to messages from over 10,000 activists, a representative from Tata Global

Beverages emailed us on 15 March, 2014.

They said Tata takes our concerns seriously and wanted us to let you know that they

have authorised an assessment of the living and working conditions in Assam, India.

We wrote back, thanking Tata for their concern and repeated our call for the company

to take specific steps (see below) to prevent the trafficking of young girls working

on their tea plantations.

They are clearly paying attention to us right now, this is your moment:

Ask Tata Global Beverages to help fight human trafficking in Assam, India.

By now, you’ve probably seen the exposé in The Guardian on what is being called the

“Tea Maid Trade.” Men and women operating as “recruiters” prey on young girls living

on tea plantations in Assam, India.

Thousands of girls have reportedly ended up trapped as domestic slaves in middle

class homes in Delhi

Ask Tata Global Beverages to help fight human trafficking in Assam, India.

So how do these girls become trapped? The short answer is that workers in Assam are

trapped in a unique situation of terrible poverty making them vulnerable to the lure

of human traffickers

The long answer looks like this:

1. Tata Global Beverages (owner of Tetley Tea) is the biggest shareholder of a company

called Amalgamated Plantations (APPL)

which manages tea plantations in Assam, India

2. Several years ago, a program was initiated that aimed to make tea plantation workers

part owners in Amalgamated Plantations. In exchange for a portion of their already

small wages, they would get shares in the company. Sounds good, right? Sadly,

scores of workers report they were coerced to buy shares in Amalgamated Plantations

and remain confused about the details

3. The minimum wage on the tea plantations in Assam is industry wide and set by a tripartite

agreement, but reports

indicate that workers are paid 94 rupees ($1.54USD) a day, a little over half the

legal wage for an unskilled worker in Assam.

There is a price for keeping wages so low, and it is paid by the workers who cannot

afford to keep their daughters

. When the traffickers come knocking, offering to take the girls away, promising

good wages and an exciting new life, they find it hard to say no

4. Because of the poverty in Assam, trafficking girls is an attractive business for

locals. Investigative reports indicate that

people in Delhi have bought girls for as little as 4,000 Rupees (or $65 USD)

As the biggest single shareholder,

if Tata Global Beverages commits to help improve the working conditions of the employees

of Amalgamated Plantations, they could play a much needed leading role in ending

slavery

in the region.

We know that right now, Tata is listening.

Tell Tata Global Beverages, parent company of Tetley Tea to help fight human trafficking on tea plantations in Assam, India.

Unfortunately, the problem of human trafficking in Assam is not new. But

right now we do have a window of opportunity to act and call for change

. Due to growing global media coverage,

Tata is feeling the heat.

A couple of days ago, they agreed to conduct an audit on the living and working conditions

in the APPL tea plantations. This is a good first step, but we’re asking Tata to

do more:

1. Publish the Tata Global Beverages Code of Conduct

. Make public a code of conduct which ensures zero tolerance for modern slavery and

includes measures for effective remediation when modern slavery is found.

2. Ensure that plantation workers are paid a full cash living wage

and are able to opt out of investment schemes, across all plantations. Pay should

be backdated accordingly.

3. Establish an independent grievance mechanism

to enable workers to report violation of their rights, both individually and collectively,

as verification that the code is being implemented.

Ask Tata Global Beverages to break the cycle of modern slavery on tea plantations in Assam.

Thank you in advance for taking action. If you have a moment, please forward on to

three of your friends to triple your impact.

In solidarity,

Debra, Mich, Kamini, Andrew, Kate, Sarah and the Walk Free Team

P.S.

We want to be really clear -- we are not accusing Tata Global Beverages of trafficking

girls from Assam to be held in situations of modern slavery. We are, however, concerned

that Tata Global Beverages is engaged in a labour scheme via Amalgamated Plantations

in Assam that is fuelling unique forms of vulnerability to modern slavery. Of all

the possible players,

Tata Global Beverages has the power to do the most good in this situation

and that is why we are calling on them to engage.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/mar/02/tea-workers-sold-into-slavery

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2014/mar/01/tetley-tea-maids-real-price-cup-tea-video

3 Tata Global Beverages own a 49.66% share in Amalgamated Plantations -

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/01/india-tea-firms-urged-tackle-slave-traffic-plantations

http://web.law.columbia.edu/human-rights-institute/initiatives/global-economy/tea-plantations/more-things-change

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/01/india-tea-firms-urged-tackle-slave-traffic-plantations

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/mar/02/tea-workers-sold-into-slavery

Walk Free is a movement of people everywhere, fighting to end one of the world's

greatest evils: Modern slavery.

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