Talks with Govt yet to take place - Planters’ Association Chief | Sunday Observer

Talks with Govt yet to take place - Planters’ Association Chief

6 December, 2020

The Government is yet to discuss with plantation company officials about the mechanism to increase the daily wage of plantation workers to Rs. 1,000, a proposal of the 2021 budget, Chairman of Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) Bhathiya Bulumulla told Sunday Observer Business on Friday. 

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during his budget speech proposed to increase daily wages of the estate sector employees, a struggle of the estate workers for several years now.

However, the PA immediately responded highlighting the practical difficulty of accommodating such an increase. 

Attending a virtual press conference recently, Bulumulla stressed the disadvantages for planters and workers through the decades-old collective agreement which determines the daily wages of workers. He suggested replacing the collective agreement with a new mechanism based on productivity. 

“Instead of the all too familiar rigmarole of forcing an ad-hoc wage increase, we call on trade unions and the Government to join us in supporting the implementation of a sustainable, productivity-based earnings model. While there are some details yet to be finalised, our industry is unanimous in its support of this reform. This will be the first step towards modernising the entire industry to be globally competitive while ensuring fair and sustainable livelihoods for our employees,” he said. 

He said most aspects of the plantation industry such as markets, buyers, customers and technology have changed while the old wage model stagnates. “The time has come to replace this archaic model with a system where workers can become entrepreneurs, and take control of their earnings themselves. Otherwise, they will forever be locked in a wage system that doesn’t benefit them or the industry. It is the only way forward and we urge all stakeholders interested in the future of plantation families to support the move which will see the employees earn far beyond Rs 1,000 to as much as Rs 55,000 to 70,000 per month.” Minister of Plantations, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana told the media recently that the government is awaiting a positive response from the plantation companies to adhere to the  proposal to increase the daily wage. The bi-annual collective agreement is to be signed by February next year. 

Bulumulla said, “Most likely we will get a chance to propose this to the Government by next week. We are looking forward to presenting our views to the authorities.”

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