Govt. hikes estate wages by Rs.50

The government has agreed to a further wage hike outside the recently concluded C o l l e c t ive Agreement between the plantation companies and the estate workers by Rs.50. Last month some unions and plantation companies agreed to a daily wage of Rs. 700.

Plantations Minister Navin Dissanayaka said on Wednesday at a media briefing at the Sri Lanka Tea Board ( SLTB) that the trade union political parties supporting the government had requested them for a further increase in wages upto Rs.1000.

In a bid to satisfy their demands the authorities have agreed to increase wages of estate sector workers by Rs.50 following a number of discussions at the Prime Minister’s office and subsequently which concluded on Wednesday morning.

Minister Dissanayaka noted that Ministers P. D i gambaram, R. Radhakrishnan and Mano Ganeshan led the unions that support the govern- ment and who had insisted on a wage hike.

He pointed out that since they could not intervene in the Collective Agreement signed between the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and the CWC leader A. Thondaman and Minister Vadivel Suresh the Rs. 50 increase would be given by the government as a budgetary proposal.

The proposal to increase the wages would mean the Treasury would have to allocate Rs.1.2 billion in this regard to be given to workers for a period of one year, the minister said.

He explained that this budgetary proposal would mean the government would be submitted to the Cabinet in about two weeks’ time.

The Treasury would allocate this amount as a loan to the SLTB that would have to be paid back, the minis- ter said.

Minister Dissanayaka said that the government is unable to intervene in the Collective Agreement and that he as the minister was only involved in assisting the parties to reach an agreement.

Commenting on the agreement, he said that the unions had requested for a wage increase in the basic salary and with some of the allowances added on the workers could achieve about Rs.1000.

He noted that workers were given a basic salary increase that would subsequently be added to their EPF and ETF contributions as well.

In this respect, the Minister noted that the Rs. 50 increase in the wages was a payment made outside of the Collective Agreement as they were not a party to the agreement.

Minister Dissanayaka said that the government is unable to intervene in the Collective Agreement and that he as the minister was only involved in assisting the parties to reach an agreement.