“Blade Economics” of new immigrants

With many female Taiwanese tea pickers already retired from the industry, Taiwanese tea plantations are facing a major shortage of workers during the current spring-tea harvest season. Faced with the dilemma of worker shortages, tea plantations owners have been putting all their energy into finding new potential workers. Fortunately, many new immigrants are willing to enter the industry, allowing the culture of the Taiwanese tea industry to take on a new shape.  

Although tea with one bud and three leaves appears young and tender, in fact the stems on the leafy branches of tea plants are still generally rough, causing pain in the fingers of those picking tea over long periods of time. Therefore, tea pickers attach a small blade to their fingers in order to facilitate ease of picking. However, with a razor sharp blade attached to the fingers, it is easy to accidentally injure oneself.

Generally speaking, new immigrants get involved in tea picking because of financial pressure at home, and therefore tend to work particularly hard. From observations in the filming of this report, these new immigrants are developing picking techniques that are beginning to surpass that of their predecessors, and are gradually becoming a new force of labor in the Taiwanese tea industry. 

“Blade Economics” of new immigrants 

URL:https://www.peopo.org/news/272745

(以下是中文對照)

新住民的刀片經濟學 影音

照片

目前是春茶的採收季節，全台茶園大缺工，早年投入採茶工作的台灣婦女因為年紀漸長，慢慢退出茶園。在採茶工短缺的窘境下，茶園主人無不使出渾身解數找工人，還好現在有很多新住民願意投入這個行業，形成台灣茶園新文化。

雖然一心三葉的茶看來幼嫩，但其實茶的枝條仍較一般葉菜的梗要粗，長時間採摘會造成手指疼痛，所以採茶工都會在手指纏上小刀片以利採摘，不過鋒利的刀片纏在手指間，一不小心就容易劃傷。通常會投入採茶工作的新住民，都是因為家庭經濟壓力，所以工作起來也特別賣力，而根據公民記者的觀察，她們學習採茶的技術漸漸勝過前輩，現在已經逐漸成為茶園的新勞動力來源。