Story of a thousand rupees
View(s):As the world is wrapped up in a pandemic and Ceylon Tea is facing issues, trade unions on the plantations are demanding that an increase of their wages be made to reach Rs.1000 at a time when most sectors are going through pay cuts and job losses.
The budget 2021 had also proposed a wage increase to Rs. 1,000 per day from this month.
Planters Association (PA) Media Spokesman and Hayleys Plantations Managing Director Roshan Rajadurai told the Business Times on Thursday that they were scheduled to have discussions in the New Year with the trade unions.
Time and again since January 2020 the PA has submitted to the authorities a new wage model that would ensure workers can receive a higher productivity-based wage.
Mr. Rajadurai said last year they had made losses to the tune of Rs.6 billion and that should they just increase the wages it would cause further losses as cost of production is high.
“Even the trade unions must understand that if the industry collapses then workers collapse,” Mr. Rajadurai explained.
He noted however that currently there is some degree of revenue sharing already taking place on the plantations of the RPCs.
Moreover, he pointed out that until October they were also able to control the coronavirus on the plantations as the plantation managers have been able to manage the situation.
However, since October when most from Colombo had moved to the plantations for holidays it had caused some spread of the pandemic.
Mr. Rajadurai queried the reason for demanding an increase when all other sectors were going through pay cuts and job losses. In fact, he insisted that this was not a time to make such demands and the tea industry itself was facing challenges.
On the home front itself the crop was facing a shortage of fertilizer, he said as there is some sort of hiccups similar to the issues confronted by others in the agriculture sector. (SD)