For this study one hundred tea workers were interviewed on a total of eight tea plantation companies, all supplying tea to Unilever. Seven of these plantations are located in India and the remaining plantation concerns Unilever’s own tea plantation in Kenya. It was found that working conditions on tea estates that supply Unilever are problematic despite having been certified by the sustainability standard system, Rainforest Alliance. This in turn raises concerns about the effectiveness and credibility of this standard.
Workers reported sexual harassment and ethnic and gender discrimination, all constituting violations of ILO, Rainforest Alliance standards and Unilever’s own code of business principles (CBP). In addition, the poor housing conditions for casuals and the casual status of many de facto permanent workers are Rainforest Alliance standard violations. NB Unilever has since acknowledged some of these problems and taken steps to address them: see https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/what-matters-to-you/kericho-tea-estates.html