KDHP runs into trouble as workers intensify stir

Munnar-based company Kannan Devan Hills Plantation (KDHP) today said it was incurring "huge loss on a daily basis" due to the ongoing strike by its workers.
It said KDHP was "deeply saddened" by the turn of events as workers demanding 20 per cent bonus have not reported for work since September 7, causing damage to standing crop which will result in massive loss, running into several crores of rupees.
Tea plantations in Kerala were going through one of its worst financial crises in its history, the company said adding if this situation continues, it could affect the very existence of the company.

At least 10,000 women tea plantation workers in Kerala's high range Idukki district, who have been on strike since September 7 demanding hike in wages, today intensified their agitation by blocking roads.
Women tea pluckers, who are at the forefront of the strike, have kept trade unions at bay. They said they would continue the agitation until their demands for hike in wages and 20 per cent bonus are met by the plantation management.
The company alleged that a "misinformation" campaign is being carried against it even though the company is at the forefront in taking care of employee welfare and providing amenities to them well beyond the statutes.

"The company is very proud of the fact that almost all employees are shareholders in the company."

"For the year ended March 31, 2015, the profit after taxes was Rs 5.02 crores as against Rs 15.55 crores in the previous year, a steep fall of 68 per cent which was mainly because of the sharp drop in tea prices last year," it said.
In view of the poor profits, the Statutory Bonus payable for the year was 8.33 per cent. However, the company had voluntarily and as a matter of goodwill, added another 1.67 per cent and declared a bonus of 10 per cent on August 24, this year, it said.

"The company tried to distribute this bonus on August 25, however, majority of the workers did not accept it as their demand was 20 per cent," the company said.
The company alleged that its MD and three other colleagues were gheraoed near the Munnar Panchayat Community Hall by several thousand workers until 1830 hours on September 7.
KDHP, first ever employee-owned plantation company in India, has 16 tea manufacturing units with an annual production of 22 million kg of tea and close to 12,000 employees. It has seven extensive tea gardens covering 24,000 hectares.