Pay hike for plantation workers

Chamikara Weerasinghe

COLOMBO: Labour Relations and Manpower Minister Athauda Seneviratna yesterday said he would take steps to increase the salaries of plantation workers without any disruption to the existing Collective Agreements signed between the Employers and the plantation trade unions.

“The minimum wage of a plantation worker should be placed at Rs. 5000 as against the present wage of Rs. 2000, Rs. 2500 and Rs. 3000,” Seneviratna said.

The Minister said so at a meeting with the district leaders of the Independent Plantation Workers’ Union, at the Labour Ministry, Colombo.

He also said that it is learnt that many plantation workers were addicted to smoking and drinking and they should be made aware of the ill-effects of these habits and how these habits have contributed to their financial strains.

Meanwhile, the plantation trade unions noted that they will fight for wage hikes of plantation workers through the wages boards with help of plantation trade unions, namely the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers’ Union and the Joint Plantation Trade Union.

The Vice President of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, R. Yogarajan yesterday said that they had pulled out of the Collective Agreement signed between them and the Employers as the latter did not accept their request to increase the monthly salary of a plantation worker to Rs. 5,000.

The Employer’s Federation has failed to increase the wages of plantation workers despite repeated requests from the trade unions, Yogarajan added.