Plantation sector wage hike likely to get delayed

• Wages boards move slow towards implementing proposed Rs.1,000 daily wage
• Labour Minister unable to publish gazette without final approval from two wages boards
• Next meeting of wages control board for Tea Growing and Manufacturing Trade scheduled for March 1

By Nishel Fernando
After failing to meet the quorum at the last meeting of the wages control board for Tea Growing and Manufacturing Trade to consider the objections against the Rs.1,000 proposed daily minimum wage for plantation workers, the Labour Ministry has set a fresh date for the next meeting, vowing to move ahead with the wage hike, despite the industry objections.

Last Thursday, when the wages control board for Tea Growing and Manufacturing Trade and Rubber met to consider the objections filed against the Rs.1,000 daily minimum wage for the industry, the wages board was unable to move ahead with its proceedings to give the final approval to the proposal in order for the Labour Minister to issue the gazette, as it was unable to meet the quorum. Only one member representing employers was present at the meeting, while all representatives of the Tea Factory Owners Association (SLTFOA) and Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) boycotted the meeting.

Therefore, Commissioner General of Labour B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi was forced to postpone the meeting.

“Our presence has become merely symbolic. No matter how much we object with the facts, they are determined to go ahead,” a top RPC official told Mirror Business. 

The Labour Ministry has set March 1 as the next date for the wage board meeting, according to a top ministry official.

If the quorum is not met again at the next meeting, he stressed that the government would have to make a decision at top level, while noting that the government is determined to implement the Rs.1,000 minimum daily wage proposed in the budget 2021.

The proposal to increase the daily minimum wage of plantation workers up to Rs.1,000 was passed by the wages control boards for Tea Growing and Manufacturing Trade and Rubber Cultivation and Raw Rubber Processing Trade on February 8, with 11 voting for and eight voting against.

With the decision, the new basic daily minimum wage of the sector is expected to double to Rs.900, from the earlier Rs.445. In addition, Rs.100 is also expected to be added to the daily minimum wage as a budget allowance. 

Within the same week, the Commissioner General of Labour published a newspaper advertisement informing the industry stakeholders to file their objections to the decision arrived by the wage control board for Tea Growing and Manufacturing Trade, before noon of February 15.  

However, a different deadline was set for wages control board for Rubber Growing and Manufacturing Trade in July.

Accordingly, planters, tea factory owners and others filed around 120 objections against the proposed wage hike.

Although, the RPCs were the initial target of the wage hike, private sector tea factories were also dragged into the wage battle while tea smallholders with no direct representation on the wages boards are likely to be another party that would have to implement the decision.