Plantations firm on worker strike, losing Rs.250 m per day
View(s):In the wake of an indefinite strike action declared by trade union (TU) leaders from December 4 onwards, the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) firmly reiterated the position of its membership – that a 100 per cent increase in daily basic wages as demanded by the TUs simply cannot be sustained by the industry.
“All Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) pay their employees’ through what is earned as revenue; however the demands of trade union leaders far exceed this capacity. At this crucial moment, we urge all stakeholders, especially those whose daily living depends on this industry, to consider the fatality of this industry and those dependent on it if impractical, untenable decisions are taken,” the PA said in a media statement on Thursday.
“The RPCs have already advanced multiple productivity- linked models that could easily enable workers to earn beyond Rs. 1,000 per day. This time’s RPC proposal is a 20 per cent increase in the basic wage escalating it from Rs. 500 to Rs. 600. A 33 per cent increase in the Attendance Incentive (AI) up to Rs. 80 plus the Productivity Incentive (PI) and Price Share Supplement (PSS), all totaling Rs 940 per day, amounting to an average increase of Rs. 3,375 per month per worker.”
“Additionally, tea harvesters who are able to bring in harvests above the norm will continue to be entitled to an over-kilo pay of Rs.28.75 per kilo in excess of the plucking norm which could easily expand their earnings beyond the Rs. 1,000.”
The PA noted that current TU demands are devoid of any incentives which could in effect curtail the earning potential of the worker by locking them into a system that only provided for a basic daily wage.
In the interim, the PA estimated that the ongoing strike action would cost the industry approximately Rs. 240 – 250 million in losses each day in the tea and rubber industry. At a time when the industry is already suffering from depressed international market conditions, and the ongoing withdrawal of the much needed chemical weedicide from the domestic market, the PA cautioned stakeholders against resorting to measures that would further weaken the industry.
(SD)