Lankan plantation workers go-slow protest called off

News

The go-slow protest campaign by Sri Lankan plantation workers since last week over wage hike demands was called off this morning (Thursday), officials said. Unions called off the 10-day protest after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe urged workers, unions and employers to postpone wage hike talks until after the August 17 parliamentary elections. Workers were demanding a wage hike inclusive of incentives upto Rs.1000 per day which the plantation owners stated was unfair considering the current crisis the tea industry was facing.

Plantations owners stated that they could give an an increase in the basic wage from Rs.420 to 500 and an increase in the per kilo plucked from 15 kgs onwards from Rs.23 to Rs.40. However, unions protested against this new proposal noting that they wanted all workers to get Rs.1000 as their total package. (SD)