Worker unrest continues at Bogawantalawa Plantations

Worker unrest in tea estates in Bogawantalawa had taken a turn for the worse with over 200,000 kgs of tea being stuck in factories as a result of laborers preventing the stocks from being sent to the Colombo Tea Auction, the estate management charged yesterday (11).

The manager of an estate that comes under the Bogawantalwa Plantations group told Daily Mirror that the workers have turned down a request made by the company to increase the usual norm of plucking 10kgs of tea per day. He said the workers were deliberately working slowly thus avoiding the increase in the norm. In addition they had also prevented tea from being dispatched to Colombo. Estate sources said that this situation would have dire consequences for Sri Lanka as the economy would lose much needed foreign currency if the country failed to meet the demand in the international market.

Company sources said that discussions between the company and the un- ions that were held recently had been unsuccessful but that another round of talks would probably get underway soon as some leaders including the CWC had expressed its desire to restart negotiations.

CWC Spokesman and Deputy Minister Muttu Sivalingam when contacted said that the union did not have a hand in preventing tea being dispatched to Colombo but that the workers have acted on their own in resorting to these actions. He said the CWC would meet company representatives in order to come to a compromise so that peace could be restored on the estate.