Tea Workers Strike: Kochi Auctions Impacted by Tea Movement

The strike by a section of trade unions in Cochin Port Trust, demanding wage revision, has hampered tea movement from warehouses on Willingdon Island for local as well as export delivery following the auctions.

According to sources in the Tea Buyers Association of Cochin, around six lakh kg of auctioned brew has been sitting idle in warehouses for the last three days due to the ongoing strike, and many shippers are unable to dispatch their cargo to meet their export commitments, especially as the fiscal year comes to a close.

Small Buyers Affected

According to sources, major corporate buyers have their own arrangements for loading teas, whereas small buyers and individual exporters have been affected. Workers from the Cochin Thuramugha Thozhilali Union (CTTU) are demanding wage increases that the trade cannot afford in these pandemic times when demand for the brew is already low.

Currently, the trade charges a loading fee of Rs. 15.5 per bag in the Willingdon Island area, while the fee in the neighbouring Mattanchery area is Rs. 8.75.

The loading charges would be reviewed every two years, and the trade is currently unable to offer wage increases. In the absence of local buying, tea prices for several grades have dropped at auctions, indicating a lack of demand.

According to the sources, the shift in consumer preference for blended and packet teas has also had an impact on local purchasing.

Cochin Port Trust officials have raised the issue with the Kerala Head Load Workers Welfare Board, urging them to maintain current wages in order to compete with other neighbouring ports and attract at least a portion of the cargo that has been diverted to other ports.

A further increase in wages at this point, when there is a significant drop in cargo handling combined with an increase in ocean freight, a lack of suitable vessels, and overall depressed market conditions, would only drive business away from the port, according to a senior port official.

Already, the bi-annual wage revision mandated by the Headload Workers Welfare Board has resulted in a 170 percent increase in general cargo wages. These exorbitant increases have cost implications and make cargo handling unviable, he adds.