Tea is the most famous beverage not only in Malawi but in the whole world.
In fact, almost all households in Malawi drink tea at least every morning.
Most Malawians know sweet stories of tea, but deep down in the estates where the beverage is grown, there are untold stories of pain and misery.
In January this year, Vitumbiko Mumba, then Minister of Labour, toured the country’s tea producing districts of Nkhata Bay, Mulanje and Thyolo to appreciate the working conditions of Malawi’s tea growers.
The tour uncovered the bitter side of tea which workers have endured for many years.
Imagine working for over 20 years in a tea plantation on an 11-month a year contract.
“You find people in tea estates; they are saying that we give our employees 11 months contracts because our tea plucking is seasonal. Let us be sincere, can you have an 11 months season in a 12 months year.
“Does it make sense? It is just a way of running away from putting these people on permanent basis because, the law says when one has worked for 12 months, put them on permanent employment basis so that they are on pension,” Mumba said.
He notes that academic research done by an official from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) which interviewed 371 team pluckers revealed that 89 percent of the pluckers register musculoskeletal disorders because of carrying heavy loads for years and years.
Musculoskeletal disorders comprise diverse conditions affecting bones, joints, muscles, and connective tissues.
“You know those people by the time they reach 60 years, without pension, how will they earn a living?” Mumba queries.
The Employment Act in Section 25 talks about three types of contracts; a contract for an unspecified period of time; a contract for a specified period of time; and a contract for a specific task.
Section 28 (4) of the Employment Act states that “A contract of employment to perform a specific task shall terminate on the completion of the task and no notice of termination shall be required of either party: Provided that in cases of ambiguity, where an employee is regularly and repeatedly employed and paid wages on the basis of completion of a quantity of work which can be completed in less than 24 hours, the contract of employment shall be deemed to be of an unspecified period of time.”
Human resource management expert Bright Limani said the contracts estates provide are contracts for specific task and contracts for specific periods which are fixed contracts.
According to Limani, legally there is nothing wrong with the conduct of estates but that what may be wrong is to keep on renewing these contracts for a long time.
“Keeping on renewing these contracts back-to-back is deemed wrong as the contract ceases to be fixed but permanent,” Limani said.
Life and Pensions Association of Malawi President Lilian Moyo believes Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) or Institute of People Management – Malawi (IPMM) are better placed to comment on the matter.
Ecam Executive Director George Khaki says the law provides for seasonal work and it recognises that in certain undertakings it is customary to employ people on a seasonal basis.
According to Khaki, what is described as a season will be different from one industry to the other and the law doesn’t define how long a season should be.
He observed that the same law provides that seasonal workers should be exempted from pension provisions.
“In case there are disputes about the definition of a season then that needs to be referred to the courts for interpretation.
“Again, the law provides for three types of contracts that can be loosely defined as permanent (long-term), short-term and for specific work (ganyu). Employers cannot be compelled to offer one type of employment,” Khaki says.
The inspection also revealed that some tea estates were literally ripping off tea pluckers who are paid based on the weight of the tea plucked by, among other things, deducting some significant kilogrammes (kg) from the plucked tea.
“We were told by a kapitawo that the bosses instructed him that when the tea weighs 15kg, we must deduct 5kg for the sack. When the plucked tea weighs 30kg, he must deduct 10kg for the sack. When the tea weighs 50kg, he must deduct 15kg for the sack.
“Tell me, which sack weighs 15kg or 5kg? Just to overwork Malawians and make huge profits,” he said.
The inspection also revealed that some estates were using inaccurate scales when weighing the plucked tea so much so that a load which weighs 25kgs on a normal scale was weighing 5kg.
In addition, the inspection uncovered that some estates were operating without toilets for the tea pluckers. This forced the tea pluckers, who included women to relieve themselves in the tea bushes.
Malawi Congress of Trade Unions has commended the Ministry of Labour for conducting the inspections.
In a statement signed by its president Charles Kumchenga and Secretary General, Madalitso Njolomole, MCTU said from the inspections, it is evident that many employers subject their workers to inhumane conditions.
“To keep the momentum towards the advancement of workers’ rights, MCTU has called for increased budget allocation to the Ministry of Labour which, they say, will affect the effectiveness of labour inspections and expansion,” MCTU said.
During a meeting with the Ministry of Labour on February 19, officials from the Tea Association of Malawi (Taml) reported that progress had been registered to remedy shortfalls that were identified during labour inspections.
Taml reported to the meeting that the estates have registered tremendous progress in addressing the challenges, saying they have so far constructed wash rooms to cater for both male and female workers, apart from providing water bowsers to supply potable water in the fields.
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