Unions to meet Wages Board this month
Estate workers’ unions intend to go before the Wages Board this month, calling for an increase of the daily wage to Rs. 2,000.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union President Kithnan Selvaraj said: “We will have to go before the Wages Board to present a proposal next month. We have started discussions with the public and other trade unions already. We will have to go by March, I believe.”
He said the All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union was proposing a daily wage of Rs. 2,000.
“We have heard that the Government will propose Rs. 1,700, but we feel they have discussed with the companies which had decided on Rs. 1,500. If the companies say no at the Wages Board, there will be a court case and that may delay an increase by at least a year,” said Selvaraj.
However, Commissioner General of Labour H.K.K.A. Jayasundara said that a final decision on the matter had not been reached yet.
Unions have been calling for a liveable daily wage for estate sector workers for years, noting the working conditions and the labour intensity of their work.
In 2021, a UN special rapporteur said that contemporary forms of slavery existed in plantations, with Malaiyaha Tamils working in plantations facing multiple forms of discrimination.
Prior to 2021, the wages were decided by the collective agreements between the plantation companies and the workers’ unions. However, Selvaraj pointed out that the agreements had not done any good to the workers, the companies, or the tea industry.
A daily wage increase was last given in 2021 to Rs. 1,000. The cost of living has increased significantly since the economic crisis began in 2022, leading to workers from many sectors calling for salary hikes.
Source: Sunday Morning
