The Planters Association (PA) officials said the current cost of tea production is over Rs. 600 per kilo. The net sales average was Rs. 532, incurring a loss of Rs. 68 per kilo. Most plantations were making continuous losses because tea prices and rubber prices were low, far below cost at estate level. Sixty percent of the costs on estates was for labour wages. The PA official said considering the minus economic position on estates, the demand of the workers could not be met. Losses were over Rs. 200 million per day, losses per month amounts to Rs. 6 . 5 billion.
The labour unrest in the plantation sector is settling down and improving at present, Planter’s Association Secretary General Lalith Obeysekera said.
“The estate workers are getting back to work. We expect that this trend will continue,” he told Business Observer. “We have proposed a different type of model, a revenue sharing mode also known as the outsourcing model. This will be more attractive to the workers. We encourage more people to join the estate sector which generate reasonable income.
However, as a means of meeting the labour shortage, especially at the harvesting time, we will resort to mechanisation process,” he said.
Some trade unions in the tea sector realising that a settlement to their wage dispute is round the corner resumed normal work but a rival trade union prevented them from carrying out their legitimate work norms.
They are reported to have set ablaze plucked leaf and also resorted to other acts of arson, damaging roads, vehicles and carried out similar rough-house tactics, Planters Association of Ceylon (PA) President Roshan Rajadurai said at a press conference held earlier last week in Colombo.
“Planters and their families were threatened, posting death threats and damaging their bungalows. The offenders also resorted to not permitting planters to leave their premises to purchase groceries and food,” Rajadurai told the media.
The PA said the wage settlement formula could not be changed in preference to any other demand particularly from the CWC.
Thondaman, President of the CWC, had rejected any alternative settlement, insisting on his demand for a 100 percent increase in the basic wage, the PA said.
Rajadurai said the current cost of production is over Rs. 600 per kilo. The net sales average was Rs, 532, a loss of Rs. 68 per kilo. He confirmed most plantations were at continuous losses because tea prices and rubber prices were low which is far below the cost at estate level.
Sixty percent costs on estates were for labour wages. He said considering the minus economic position on estates, the demand could not be met. Losses were over Rs. 200 million per day, losses per month amounts to Rs. 6.5 billion. He also said they had discussions with the newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa but such discussions did not achieve any settlement of the current impasse.
He said the dispute had to be discussed further.
The settlement formula suggested by the PA included extra wage of Rs. 3,375 per month per worker.
Given the productivity clause in the suggested settlement, Rajadurai said an industrious worker could earn at least Rs. 50,000 per month.