• Public sector workers demand Rs. 10,000 hike in monthly salaries
• Estate sector workers continue to demand promised Rs. 1,000 daily wage 
• Public sector pay increased, can’t force pvt. sector to grant wage hikes: Labour Minister

By Uwin Lugoda With the 2022 Budget presentation scheduled for Friday (12), trade unions across the country have called for a collective increase in salaries, to match the rising cost of living.  This collaborative demand for a salary hike of Rs. 10,000 comes six years after the last pay hike, and encompasses four sectors, the National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) said. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, NTUC Chairman K.D. Lalkantha stated that these demands also address the needs of the private, public, and estate sector workers, while also including retirees. “We made this demand for a Rs. 10,000 hike in salary publicly on 28 October during a press conference, but prior to it, we had already sent a letter to the Government with our demands and the reasoning behind it. The letter represented a total of four sectors; the public, private, and estate sector workers, and also those who are currently living off their pensions,” said Lalkantha. He stated that the last time they called for an overall salary hike was in September/October 2015, in time for that year’s presidential election. Due to this, he stated that the President at the time, current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, partly accommodated the request in November that same year, following which a new government came to power and fulfilled the remainder of the request. However, Lalkantha stated that this salary hike did not take place at once, and instead was added to the salary in portions over the course of a few months.  He explained that the previous hike was to accommodate the cost of living prior to 2016, which, he pointed out, had since increased. “Between 2016 and 2021, there has been a noticeable increase in the cost of living, which is why we are asking for this Rs. 10,000 salary hike,” he explained. He stressed that while self-employed persons can survive by adjusting their charges, those working in companies in both the private and public sectors cannot survive if the companies themselves do not increase the salaries to match the current cost of living.  He further explained that if the salaries remained the same while the cost of living increased, these workers and their families would be in a dire situation.  “If you’re self-employed, you can raise your rates to match the cost of living, but what about those working in companies and those who are retired? If the Government is increasing the cost of living, they also need to increase the people’s salaries to match that. If that doesn’t happen, you will have to go out and start selling rice packets to survive, while also letting go of small comforts.” Lalkantha stated that as of now, the Government had given no response to their request. Therefore, he stated that the NTUC had launched an islandwide poster campaign to prepare the country for their protests. These protests have been scheduled throughout the coming weeks, and were open to employees of all four sectors. When questioned about the request for a pay hike, Minister of Labour Nimal Siripala de Silva stated that the Government recently raised the minimum wage by Rs. 2,500, via the Minimum Wage Act.  However, he stated that the Government cannot compel those in the private sector to increase all their employees salaries by Rs. 10,000. “The Government cannot do anything about the private sector. We discussed this in the national committee meeting already, but we are not in a position to compel them. These companies are not willing to give a pay hike because it is not sustainable for them. All we can do legally is to bring in legislation and raise the minimum wage, which we already did a few months ago.” Estate sector Preceding these demands, local estate sector workers had also been fighting for the Rs. 1,000 daily wage they were promised last March.  Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Estate Sector Workers Union Chairman Kitnan Selvaraj stated that despite being gazetted earlier this year, the promised Rs. 1,000 daily wage had been on a hiatus due to 20 companies protesting it. “We were promised a daily wage of Rs. 1,000, but we are yet to receive it. Despite it being gazetted by the Government, the private companies took it to court, and now it’s been put on hold, putting the estate workers in a dire situation,” said Selvaraj. The decision to increase the daily wage of plantation workers was adopted by both Wages Boards for the Tea and Rubber Growing and Manufacturing Trade, and was approved by the Minister of Labour. Accordingly, the minimum rate of the daily wage for time-based work was supposed to include Rs. 900 as a minimum daily wage for labour and Rs. 100 as a budgetary relief allowance, as of 5 March. Selvaraj stated that due to these companies being privately owned, the Government had been unable to push them to honour the gazette. He explained that without a proper mechanism, the estate workers will not be able to earn their due. “We have been having discussions for a Rs. 1,000 daily wage for estate workers since 2006. The topic is mostly brought up by politicians to secure our votes come election season. These discussions concluded only this year, with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa publishing the gazette, but that was also for political gain, and no mechanism was introduced. So we are stuck now.” He stated that due to these estates being privately owned, the gazette alone cannot compel them to pay the Rs. 1,000 daily wage. Instead, he suggested that the Government introduce a mechanism to push these companies to obey the current gazette, or that the Government make up the remaining amount of the daily wage where companies fall short.  Selvaraj explained that the only mechanism to request for pay hikes was introduced to the industry in 1992, where the workers could air out their grievances and expect an increase of Rs. 20-30, and sometimes Rs. 100, to the daily wage every two years. He questioned how politicians could make promises to increase the daily wage with such a mechanism already in place. “We have been given various promises by politicians in both the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). We even had one politician promising a daily wage of Rs. 1,500, which we knew was a lie since it wouldn’t be sustainable for the companies. With the daily yield of a worker, the best we could expect is around Rs. 1,200, which is also a fantasy, since we are struggling to get just Rs. 1,000.” He stated that in order to develop the sector and aid its workers, the best course of action is to introduce a monthly salary, instead of a daily one. He stated that this mechanism will aid the workers, and improve the country’s tea exports, especially given the current global demand for black tea. “This industry was started in the 1800s by the British, and then it was handed over to the government in 1972, and given back to the private sector in 1992. Through all that, our industry has continuously helped the country’s economy, but those who work in it have always been daily wage workers, which is a tragedy. It’s the Government’s responsibility to change this, by introducing a new mechanism and giving them a monthly wage; not to make false promises for votes.” Speaking on the matter, Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) Vice President Senthil Thondaman stated that he raised the issue of improper estate worker wages during a party meeting last week.  He explained that only 20-30% of these workers were getting the promised Rs. 1,000 daily wage, despite it being gazetted by the Government and the Wages Board. “The gazette says that if an estate worker works for 20 days, they should receive Rs. 20,000. But right now, what we see is that some plantation companies are paying only Rs. 13,500 or Rs. 17,500; an improper wage, despite the government gazette.” Thondaman stated that this was due to the government authorities in charge of the matter not monitoring the situation closely and making sure the companies honour the gazette. He stated that he recently raised this issue with President Rajapaksa, who had said that he will immediately instruct the relevant officials to ensure that the government gazette was implemented.