brand logo

Rising cost of living and low wages: Estate workers turning to greener pastures

18 Dec 2021

By Uwin Lugoda The skyrocketing cost of living, alongside a wage that does not commensurate the monthly household expenditure, has resulted in the country’s plantation workers leaving their estate work in search of better wages.  During the past few months, many estate workers have been complaining that most plantation companies have failed to pay them the promised Rs. 1,000 daily wage. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Estate Sector Workers’ Union Chairman Kitnan Selvarajh stated that within the last two to three months, the local estate sector lost up to 25% of its workforce.  He explained that this workforce, comprised mostly of women, have now opted to abandon their work in the estates and the country to travel in search of greener pastures in the Middle East. He also stated that this was due to big plantation companies paying less than they used to by paying per kg of tea leaves plucked, instead of the Rs. 1,000 per day wage agreement. He added that this, together with the rise in cost of living, has left most workers with no choice but to look for work in foreign countries. “According to the last survey we did, there are upwards of 133,000 estate sector workers in Sri Lanka. But due to the problems within the sector and other problems like the rising cost of living, almost 25% of the workforce, mostly women, have left the sector in an attempt to go to the Middle East and support their families. The unstable wage structure put forward by these companies have made these workers abandon the sector and the country,” said Selvarajh. He further explained that at present, workers are told to pluck 20 kg of tea per day to earn their Rs. 1,000, which is not possible. He stated that workers are only able to pluck 13-15 kg a day, leading these companies to only pay Rs. 750 daily. Accordingly, for estate workers who only work around 20 days a month, the average monthly income has come down to Rs. 15,000. Selvarajh stated that the issue of the Rs. 1,000 is an ongoing one, since the companies that agreed to the initial gazette have ended up not following the stipulations made in it. The decision to increase the daily wage of plantation workers was adopted by both Wages Boards for the Tea and Rubber Growing and Manufacturing Trades, and was approved by the Minister of Labour. Accordingly, as of 5 March, the minimum rate of daily wage-for-time work was supposed to include Rs. 900 as minimum daily wage labour and Rs. 100 as budgetary relief allowance. Despite this, Selvarajh stated that the promised Rs. 1,000 daily wage has been on hiatus due to 20 companies only paying it in the first month and then asking the workers to harvest 20 kg before continuing with 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, private companies took it to court, and now it’s been put on hold, putting the estate workers in a dire situation,” he added. Selvarajh also noted that the Union’s frustrations worsened due to the Government not addressing and resolving this issue, instead leaving the estate workers in a state of uncertainty. Furthermore, he stated that another reason for the workers to abandon the sector is due to the Government selling the government-owned estates to the Chinese, creating land issues. He explained that this has created an environment that promotes more internal sector issues in the future. Selvarajh commented that this wage issue has further exacerbated on a backdrop where the cost of living in Sri Lanka has skyrocketed within the last few months. The cost of both food and non-food items has increased in price compared to the start of the year due to inflation. According to data from the Department of Census and Statistics, general food cost in November 2021 was 5.3% higher than it was a month prior, and 17.5% more than November 2020. Similarly, the general cost of non-food items in November 2021 has gone up by 1.2% compared to the month prior, and 6.4% more than November 2020. Addressing these concerns, Planters’ Association of Ceylon Media Spokesperson Roshan Rajadura stated that ever since March, all the listed companies have been paying their workers the mandatory Rs. 1,000 daily wage. However, he stated that the issue arises when some workers come and work for only four hours a day, harvesting only 15 kg and expecting the same wage. He explained that the industry agreed to pay Rs. 1,000 for workers who either work a full eight hours or harvest 20 kg of tea. “Just like how you can’t do a grade five exam and expect an Ordinary Level (O/L) certificate, they can’t work just four hours and expect us to pay Rs. 1,000. The workers who work the eight hours and do their tasks properly are still getting paid the Rs. 1,000, because if not we can be held accountable,” said Rajadura. He explained that if they take 100 workers, one or two workers will bring only 12 kg or 14 kg, and the management ends up not paying them the full amount.  He stated that the management is well within their rights to do so since the Wages Board has clearly stated that the workers need to complete the eight hours of work to be paid. Rajadura stated that this issue is only brought up by the estate workers in the listed sector, and not the smallholder’s sector, where they only pay Rs. 30 per kg, making 20 kg only Rs. 600. He explained that due to this, the workers brought in 30-35 kg daily without complaints. “Our listed companies give them better wages, benefits, and an environment that is conducive for their work, but they have issues. What we see is that the women estate workers are actually good workers, often plucking well above the quota; it is the men who have an issue with the 20 kg,” he noted.


More News..