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Planters boycott wages meeting

22 Feb 2021

  • Labour Ministry to offer one more meeting

  Representatives of the Planters’ Association (PA) had not attended the Wages Board meeting on 19 Friday, as convened by the Commissioner General of Labour, where objections regarding the Rs. 1,000 minimum wage for plantation workers were to be considered, The Morning learnt. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour told The Morning yesterday (21) that although the Trade Unions (TUs) and the representatives from the Ministry had been present, the representatives from the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) had failed to attend the meeting. The spokesperson added that this meeting was held to study the objections raised by the RPCs regarding the decision reached by the Wages Board on 8 February to pass the unions’ wage proposal. The proposal was that a basic wage of Rs. 900 would be provided to the workers by the RPCs and a further Rs. 100 would be paid through a budget allowance, to make up the total daily wage of Rs. 1,000. According to the spokesperson, as a quorum is needed for a decision to be taken, the representatives from the RPCs are essential for future meetings. “We have decided that we would be giving the planters one more day to attend another meeting. After that, we would be forced to reach a tough decision on the matter, if necessary,” said the spokesperson. Although The Morning inquired as to the date of the next meeting, and details on decisions that would be taken if the RPCs fail to attend future ones as well, the spokesperson refused to comment further. When contacted by The Morning, Planters’ Association (PA) Media Spokesperson Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said that although the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) had been present at the meeting, representatives from the RPCs had not attended. “This is too short of a time for us to raise our objections,” said Dr. Rajadurai. Dr. Rajadurai also said that no decision has been reached yet on whether the planters would attend the next meeting. The proposal for increasing the minimum wage of plantation workers to Rs. 1000 was declared at the 2021 budget reading in December 2020 by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Ministry of Labour convened a Wages Board to bring a resolution to the matter, as the RPCs and the Trade Unions (TUs) representing the workers could not reach one. The Wages Board which met on 8 February approved the proposal by the TUs, to which a two week period was given to raise objections by any party.  


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