Pompilai Orumai, the purportedly apolitical organisation of women workers at Munnar’s Kanan Devan tea company, whose ‘jasmine revolution’ created a new wave in Kerala’s labour movement, has helped the Congress-led United Democratic Front bag the Munnar Gram Panchayat.
The Orumai won two seats in the 21-member panchayat council in local body elections held in early November. While the UDF got nine seats, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front secured 10 seats. In the election for the Panchayat President held on Thursday, the Orumai voted for the UDF candidate. R Karuppa Samy was declared the Panchayat President.
The Orumai was formed after the spontaneous upsurge of women workers at the Tata-controlled Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Limited. The workers, mostly tea-leaf pluckers, struck work for nine days demanding a 20 per cent bonus. Over 5,000 women workers stumped the conventional trade unions – whose leaders allegedly colluded with the plantation management – and got their demand fulfilled.
The strike made national headlines and created excitement among workforce on tea plantations across the country. They also took part in the agitation for higher wages.
The agitation was immediately followed by the local body polls. The women workers, whose thousands of votes were critical in many wards in the Munnar gram panchayat, put up their own candidates in two wards and emerged successful. After the agitation was over, the women’s movement crystallised into an organisation called Pompilai Orumai with Lissy Sunny as the president. Sunny later told the media that Orumai voted the UDF because neither the UDF nor LDF could secure a majority and because it did not want the uncertainty to go on.
However, while the Orumai had to battle all conventional trade unions, including the pro-Congress INTUC, it was the pro-Left unions – AITUC and CITU – that created more troubles for it. This probably was the main reason for the Orumai support for the UDF in the election.