Employers’ Federation hails plantation wage agreement

The revised Plantation Workers’ Wage Agreement of 2009, which was signed on September 16, between the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon and the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union and Joint Plantations Trade Union Centre is a landmark in the history of collective bargaining in Sri Lanka.

The plantation industry in Sri Lanka remains the only industry which has an industry based collective bargaining agreement which covers over 220,000 workers and 21 Regional Plantation Companies said The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon in a statement.

The new wage package that has been agreed upon by the parties is almost a 40 percent increase in the total wage package of a plantation worker.

The wage package which was Rs 290 per day has been revised to Rs 405 per day.

One of the key challenges that the Companies will have to face in moving forward would be to ensure that the industry sustains and remains competitive.

The industry has 52 million man days per year and an increase of every rupee to the wage bill would amount to Rs 52 million per year.

In comparison, Sri Lanka records a much higher cost of production compared with Kenya and Indonesia. The cost of plucking is double than that of South India.

Therefore, it is imperative that the Companies, the Trade Unions, workers and everyone genuinely interested in safeguarding this industry which has been the lifeblood of our economy for a number of years, do everything possible to ensure that the industry will remain viable and competitive.

In this context, we are happy to note that the concept of productivity, which is imperative to the development of our economy, has been clearly recognized by the signatories to this Collective Agreement. The Productivity Incentive which enables a worker to earn Rs 30 a day is a landmark in the history of collective bargaining in the plantation industry.

We are happy that the Trade Unions have also recognized the importance of productivity as the means to sustain this industry at a time when it is needed most.

The Regional Plantation Companies must also ensure a conducive environment to enable these workers to give of their best to the industry and thereby increase their daily earnings. During the negotiation process, there were many organizations which claimed to promote the interests of the workers. It was unfortunate that some of their initiatives during this time were totally counter productive for the industry.

We are happy that the vast majority of workers have clearly signalled that they cannot be misled. They have realised that it is their responsibility also to ensure that no damage is done to the industry by any disruptive action.

We hope that the signing of this new Agreement and the revised wage package will begin a new era of industrial relations in the plantation industry that will help the industry to move forward from strength to strength in the future, the statement said.