Her fingers are a web of fine cuts — like paper cuts but deeper.Sagunthla is one of many Tamil women who make up the backbone of Sri Lanka's tea industry.
Experts say drastic reforms are needed to keep the industry alive, and to improve conditions for workers like Sagunthla.Before Sri Lanka became synonymous with tea, coffee dominated the island's central highlands. To fill the labour gap, the British imported Indian Tamils who worked for a small fee or no pay in exchange for their passage to Sri Lanka.Most supervisors at Sri Lanka's tea plantations are male.Pickers today say the patriarchal work system that was in place during those colonial times has continued mostly unchanged.
Roshan Rajadurai, chair of the Planters' Association of Ceylon, says the move is unsustainable, given rising production costs and a struggling economy."We're not against wage increases, but they need to be tied to productivity," Mr Rajadurai said.He is advocating for a more measured 35 per cent wage increase, because Sri Lanka's tea industry is struggling with lower productivity and higher labour costs compared to competitors such as India and Kenya.
He says during the pandemic, many estate owners such as Dilmah also built hospitals in isolated areas to provide urgent care. And instead of a traditional seven-hour work day, workers' hours are determined by how long it takes them to pick the best new tea leaves and collectively sort through and process their harvest.