Nepal: Tea Workers Seize Plantations

Clearly these are important developments. Anyone hearing news of these worker takeovers should sent them to Kasama and we will post them immediately. Thanks to Neil’s Nepal blog for pointing this out.

Such actions of worker control are a sign of a deepening revolutionary situation — and (from very scattered accounts) seem to initiative taken by the people inspired by the increasing power of the Maoist party.  As we get more facts about this, we will be able to see whether those first impressions are true, and whether such developments are a trend within the sharpening crisis over Nepal’s revolution and its future.

Somewhere Lenin is Smiling: Workers ‘take over’ tea factories, resume operations

RAM CHANDRA ADHIKARI

DHANKUTA, Aug 3 – Workers of three big tea estates, which remained closed for the last three weeks due to disputes between the management and workers, have forcefully took control of the processing factories and resumed operations.

The factories of Gurash Tea Estate, Kuwabashi Tea Plantation and Joon Tea Garden were taken into control by the workers on Friday and started tea production from Saturday.

Gopal Tamang, president of All Nepal Trade Unions Federation, a trade union closely affiliated with the Maoists, said the workers have resumed tea production and also started collecting tea leaves from the garden. He said the workers were forced to ‘capture’ the factories after the managements refused to initiate dialogues to end the deadlock and added that the takeover will continue until the managements agree to talk.

The tea estates were closed three weeks back after tea workers started protest programs demanding wage hikes, permanent appointments, and medical insurance, among others. The managements of the tea estates have been refusing to sit for negotiations citing insecurity.