– May 13, 2011 –
Join Make a Permanent Change 4 Temporary Tea Workers and other organizations such as Kenya Tea Development, Central Organization of Trade Union, the Kenya Tea Growers Association to pressure Unilever to meet with us.
We are conducting an event on May 13th, 2011 to raise awareness for Kenyan
tea workers. We will gather to discuss the realities of tea production by well
known brands such as Lipton. Join the demonstration outside the Annual Unilever Shareholders Meeting to voice or demands to President Micheal Polk and CEO Paul Polman.
- We demand sexual harassment to end and for Unilever to host gender sensitive training and sexual discrimination workshops to ensure women working in tea trade are safe and not harassed
- We demand Unilever to comply with the requirements put forth by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of adequate housing for temporary workers
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx
What we fail to realize is, that tea, from that first sip to the last, has come from millions of people who work relentlessly without any form of job or income security.One multinational corporation, Unilever, owns the well known brand of Lipton tea.
Unilever operates its tea producing companies in Kenya in the most discriminatory manner. Tea workers at best make money from not the hours they put in, but rather the tea they’ve collected which can vary from season to season. Other form of workers can be enlisted as “temporary workers.” These workers face even more difficulty as there is no time limit on their temporary status and they receive a far lower salary.
The conditions in these tea producing companies are shocking with sexual abuse cases, low sanitation, lack of protection, and medical facilities. The list is endless, and the workers have no choice but to tolerate every condition thrown at them with little to no representation.
It is clear that making a change to the actions of such a large corporation is not an easy task. However, it is critical that basic awareness is raised on what the real story is behind tea production. Thus, join Make a Permanent Change 4 Temporary Tea Workers on May 13th! Come join passionate activists and organizations demonstrate. Perhaps, through the exchange of words and more awareness, there may be a possibility for change.
More information on organizing the demonstration, where and when to meet, and content of signs will surface as we get closer to the date. Be sure to check the website and other media tools for updates.
