BOI workers to protest for a wage hike
Sri Lanka’s trade union workers at the Board of Investment (BOI) Free Trade Zones are planning on carrying out a protest campaign demanding a hike in their wages citing current conditions in the country.
Free Trade Zone workers union General Secretary Anton Marcus told the Business Times that they hope to carry out a protest close to February 10 when the next pay of the workers are being handed out demanding an increase in their salaries.
He noted that the workers need at least Rs.5000 increase in their monthly salaries and would not accept any less.
Workers of some factories have promised a wage hike of at least Rs.3000 but this has been rejected by some workers.
Mr. Marcus noted that the BOI is also not involving itself in setting the benchmark for the granting of minimum wages to the workers for the year. However, it is learnt that the BOI had stopped this practice some time back ever since trade unions themselves had protested against their involvement in the setting of a minimum wage for BOI workers.
On the contrary it is the manufacturers at the BOI that determine the wages of the workers and the minimum increase they could afford.
Last December FTZ Manufacturers Association Chairman Dhammika Fernando said the companies had decided they would grant an increase of a minimum of Rs.1000 as per current conditions affecting their factories’ performance.
Companies have been imposed further high taxes and tariffs as a result of an increase in the electricity tariffs and the tax hikes brought on this year.
However, Mr. Fernando pointed out that should the government not bring on any further increases this year in tariffs or taxes they expect to achieve a marginal increase in their growth of about 3-5 per cent.
To achieve this they expect the government to carry out a reduction in electricity tariffs to the BOI companies as well and not carry out any further increases in taxes later in the year.
Already exporters are facing a crisis with the increase in freight rates as a result of the current crisis on the Red Sea with most merchant vessels opting to avoid the Suez Canal and take a different route around the Cape of Good Hope.
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