According to trade union sources, workers from the coffee, tea and rubber plantations in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will take part in the strike. Around 40 trade unions are understood to have unanimously decided to go ahead with the stir. Trade union leaders at the Estate Staff Union said strike notices are being issued to the respective managements. However, senior trade union leaders from INTUC and HMS when contacted, said a decision to participate in the proposed strike is yet to be taken.

A recently held meeting of INTUC-affiliated plantation trade unions from the three southern states, had called for agitations against the ``anti-labour'' and ``anti-industrialist'' policies of the state and the Central government. ``We will request the government to stop all imports of coffee, tea and rubber immediately and impose the highest rates of import duty on these commodities.

The government also has to abolish the excise levy on tea and reduce all other taxes, to help the tea industry come out of the current crisis. The planters should not be compelled to sell tea through auctions,'' said a trade union leader with the Estate Staff Union.

The call for a token strike to agitate against government policies comes at a time when the trade unions are under pressure to agree to a plantation management-proposed wage cut, to tide over the crisis.

``We are not able to meet our statutory commitments. There are many PF default cases coming up. The required cash flow is not there. We expect work at some of the plantations to come to a standstill in the next two months, if nothing is done,'' said an industry source.