Submitted by Chen Wu on Fri, 01/09/2009 - 04:17.
Migrant Tea Workers
In Pu’er city of Yunnan province, we visited tea processing factories and production base of Yunnan Landsun Tea Green Industry Co., Ltd.. The Yunnan government cooperated with some companies to carry out a poverty alleviation program and moved the poor people from Zhaotong city where ethnic minorities concentrate out of the environmentally polluted areas. These migrants are mostly Miao nationality. Some migrants that have been moved to Pu’er have settled in the production base contracted by Landsuntea, which signs contracts with these migrants. The migrants need to take care of the tea farm. As Miao people don’t know how to grow and pick tea, the company provides management and technical training to them. Selling fresh leaves they have picked at the contracted price is their main source of income. As a matter of fact, these migrant have become workers of the company responsible for managing tea farm and picking tealeaves. However, from the contract they have signed, we can see no formal employment relations between them, and the company doesn’t have to sign labor contracts with these migrants and provide other benefits.
Some female migrants also do some temporary work for the company to increase their household income. We discovered 3 girls aged around 13, who were sitting together with other women, piling processed tea. They looked quite skilled and more efficient than old women. Others told us that these 3 girls were children of migrants and helped their mothers in the workshop irregularly. They didn’t go to school. Normally, Miao girls get married at age 15 or 16, so they quit school to ear money for their home.
»
- Chen Wu's blog
- Login to post comments
- Chinese, Simplified
