The Guardian reported on August 1 that 218 Kenyan tea plantation workers complained to the United Nations against Unilever, accusing the multinational company of violating international human rights standards and failing to provide appropriate assistance to employees. In 2007, these employees were attacked during ethnic violence triggered by the controversial presidential election.
When ethnic riots broke out in 2007, workers lived on a plantation in the western Kenyan city of Kericho. The plantation was run by a subsidiary of Unilever and housed more than 10% of the company's global workforce at the time. Most of the workers on the plantation are from the Kisii tribe, which is not indigenous to the area. After the 2007 presidential election, ethnic violence broke out across Kenya, killing more than 1,300 people across the country.
The complaint shows that attackers invaded the Kericho Plantation and attacked hundreds of workers and their families, resulting in 7 deaths and others being raped or seriously injured.
After the violence, Unilever temporarily shut down its plantations and sent workers home. The victims said they had not been paid for six months, "exacerbating their situation." Kenyan workers sued in the UK, but in 2019 the Supreme Court refused to rule, saying Unilever's Kenyan subsidiary was responsible for risk management of any crisis and therefore any case should be heard in Kenya.
,218 workers said Unilever had breached its obligation to remedy any human rights violations, which are at the heart of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which the company subscribes to. They requested a statement from the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights and called on the company to provide redress.
A Unilever spokesman said the company "strongly rejects any allegation that it breached its principles in relation to the tea workers" and "has provided vital support to those employees affected".
