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Estate worker wages: Plantation companies unlikely to budge

27 Dec 2020

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  Plantation companies are unlikely to abide by the instructions given by Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva last week to come up with a final decision on increasing the minimum daily wage of estate workers to Rs. 1,000, The Sunday Morning learnt. Instead, the companies are discussing a radical proposal which they say would increase both the salaries of the workers as well as the work hours. Last Monday (21), Minister de Silva instructed the relevant authorities to take the final decision on increasing the minimum daily wage of estate workers to Rs. 1,000, as per the 2021 Budget proposals, by Monday (tomorrow).   The instructions have been given by the Minister after considering the submissions made by both parties during the discussions with the Estate Workers' Leaders and Employers' Federation representatives regarding the increase in wages. However, the Planters Association of Ceylon (PA) stressed that the planters would not meet the Minister tomorrow (28). Instead, they would seek a meeting early next month. “We have already planned to hold a critical discussion with all plantation companies on 4 January and following the discussions, the companies would come up with a solution,” PA President Bathiya Bulumulla told The Sunday Morning.   When asked whether they would agree to increase the minimum wage, he said the proposal they make would pave the way for the estate workers to earn Rs. 1,000, or even more than that, per day. Yet, the PA President did not disclose whether the Rs. 1,000, as promised by the Government, would be given to the workers or not. However, at the meeting held with the Minister last week, the plantation companies were of the opinion that plantation workers should be given an additional daily quota of 2 kg of leaves and that these employees had not done enough daily duties to justify paying the gratuity at the end of their service.   Accordingly, they proposed that every employee should be required to work 180 days a year. However, the Minister proposed to add an extra kg of leaves to the per day quota, and stated that the 180-day proposal could be accepted. However, the workers' representatives also pointed out that it was not fair to exclude the number of leaves plucked by plantation workers that are assigned as crate weight and factory waste.   Taking all these factors into consideration, the Minister stated that the Government's decision that the minimum wage for plantation workers should be Rs. 1,000 could not be changed under any circumstances. The Minister also instructed that if any company is unable to pay the minimum wage of Rs. 1,000, they were to handover the estate company to the Government. He also told the employers that the Government is ready to maintain the estates or hand over the management to another company.   “Most companies are not available, as they go on vacation, and therefore, they would meet the Minister after the discussion is held on 4 January,” Bulumulla said. When asked about the warnings given by the Minister that the plantations would be acquired by the Government, he stressed that all companies would be taking the same decision and therefore, if the Government is going to acquire the plantations, it will have to acquire them all. However, there is no hindrance for anybody who wishes to obtain shares in the companies.  


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