Thondaman to muscle political support for wage hike
CWC MP Arumugam Thondaman is threatening to muster support from other political parties to pose a challenge to Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) by obtaining support to increase basic wages through a budget proposal, should wage talks fail.
Wage talks between the estate workers unions and the RPCs are still underway and the main party, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) wants the basic living wage to be increased to Rs.962 per day from the existing Rs.500, Mr. Thondaman told the Business Times on Thursday. RPCs have proposed a basic wage increase upto Rs.575.
Certain other allowances like the price wage supplement of Rs.30 that has been stagnant since 1992 needs to be increased to Rs.50, the CWC said.
The CWC, drawing a hard line at the talks, insists that if no agreement is reached by October 15 the RPCs would be compelled to pay the arrears as well by the number of months if discussions get delayed.
In addition, the workers union is attempting to exert pressure on the government to agree to a basic wage of Rs.1200 to be submitted as a budget proposal.
In this respect, Mr. Thondaman said that they would hold discussions with all political parties to gain their support for this “genuine cause” and obtain an increase in the basic wages of estate workers upto Rs.1200 through a budget proposal.
Failing these conditions, CWC sources said the CWC would obtain the support of the opposition to attempt to defeat the budget.
The last discussion between the RPCs and the worker unions was held on Tuesday at the Employers Federation of Ceylon office at Rajagiriya and the next scheduled meeting will be held tomorrow (Monday) at 3 pm.
At present the number of workers on the plantations has dwindled to about 150,000 with workers increasingly looking for jobs outside the estates for higher pay and better working conditions.