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Tea factories remain shut, prices plummet, go-slow continues
With a global tea crisis brewing, the situation has been made worse by the ongoing go-slow by plantation workers demanding a pay hike, officials said. Tea factories remained shut with no immediate solution in sight after the failure of talks on Friday to resolve the wage dispute between employers, trade unions and labour officials.
Last Monday, the largest union, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), led the go slow campaign in a few plantations. It spread island-wide on Tuesday with workers demanding a daily wage of Rs. 1000. At present workers are paid Rs. 620 which includes the basic wage of Rs. 450 plus incentives, Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union (LJEWU) President K. Velayutham said. He is also the State Minister for Plantations Industry.
Mr. Velayutham said that on Friday unions had a discussion with the employers and the labour officials. They asked that the wages be increased to Rs. 1000 a day, but the employers did not agree and more talks were scheduled for Wednesda, he said.
The unions present at the meeting were the CWC, the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre and the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union.
Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre General Secretary Sinniah Ramanathan said world tea prices fluctuated regularly and it was not a major crisis. The unions would thus continue the agitation till the wage hike was given. The unions have also asked the estate owners to open the factories and resume operations, he said.
The go-slow campaign has had a severe impact on the plantations with workers plucking only 10-20 per cent of their daily output. On average, a worker plucks about 18-20 kilos a day. However, this has now dropped to 5 kilos of tea, according to Planters Association Chairman Roshan Rajadurai.
He said the world tea prices had dropped from Rs. 510 a kg in January to Rs. 380 now. The unions should realise this crisis and the possible break down of the industry.