RPCs arm-twisted for Rs.50 more

The Government has been able to arm-twist the plantation companies into paying a further Rs.50 to tea estate workers.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday held discussions with Plantations Minister Navin Dissanayaka together with the other industry stakeholders like the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) in a bid to ensure they could pay the additional Rs.50 to workers.

Naysayers, the RPCs have been dismissive of any further pleas from workers for a wage hike of Rs.1000 and having agreed with the estate unions for a pay rise upto Rs.700 has agreed to a further Rs.50.

However, this would not be included in the Collective Agreement entered into by the RPCs and the unions and will be paid for a period of one year alone.

Minister Dissanayake earlier stated that the government was favourably looking at increasing the Rs.700 wage hike by a further state-funded Rs.50 outside the Collective Agreement as a budgetary proposal. This would have cost the government Rs.1.2 billion for the one year period.

But it seems this has not gained approval following which estate owners have been compelled to agree to this additional pay hike following the meeting with the Prime Minister.

Ministers P. Digambaram, R. Radhakrishnan and Mano Ganeshan led the unions that support the government and who had insisted on a further wage hike above the Collective Agreement entered into.