Troubled factories resume half pay
View(s):Factories are now compelled to fall back on the previous half pay for workers at home as no proper work had got underway since the first week of last month following the outbreak of the COVID-19 Minuwangoda cluster.
Lately factories have requested that the Labour Minister grant an extension on the half pay for workers at home or Rs, 14,000 whichever is higher since they were unable to carry out work since October 8, Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association General Secretary Dhammika Fernando told the Business Times.
When this scheme lapsed in September following the Labour Advisory Council meeting it was decided that factories will be allowed to adopt this only on a case-by-case basis.
But now since the outbreak of the pandemic that resulted in a number of factories closing and few staff turning up for work, factories were unable to meet the orders and could not manage production.
“The repercussion will come in the next few months,” Mr. Fernando explained.
Meanwhile, two of the factories that were closed down in the Katunayake FTZ have re-opened and will be re-commencing operations in a phased out manner under strict health guidelines, Mr. Fernando said.
He noted that currently factories have carried out a total of 24,000 PCR tests in all FTZs and Katunayake FTZ alone had carried out about 11,000 PCR tests. Currently there are about 1000 workers in quarantine from all zones and the COVID-19 positive cases reported so far are 438 from the Katunayake FTZ, 16 from Biyagama, 1 from Koggala and 1 from Seethawaka.
The most crucial factor is the staff as only more than 40 per cent are reporting to work in the factories at the zones, Mr. Fernando explained.
“Government and authorities need to cooperate with the workers who are stranded in surrounding areas like Katana who are boarded and unable to arrive at the workplaces,” he said.
Another concern is workers hired from manpower agencies as they are not been looked after by them and the blame continues to fall on the companies they work for.
(SD)