Speaking to The Morning yesterday (8), Ceylon Workers’ Red Flag Union former General Secretary and current Advisor Menaha Kandasamy said that the protests started last month in front of the Labour Department’s District offices, as they had received no response from the ministry or the department to the multiple letters they had sent highlighting their issues, and subsequently proceeded to protest in Colombo this month.

“We came to Colombo on 7 March and held an overnight protest. The labour rights of plantation workers are protected by the collective agreements. Every two years, it is signed with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) and the trade unions. Last year, the EFC refused to increase the wages for the plantation workers. Therefore, the Government intervened and they increased the minimum daily wage to Rs. 1,000 through a Wages Board decision. After that, the companies totally refused all labour rights in the sector because they did not want to give Rs. 1,000,” Kandasamy said, highlighting their key issues.

She said that Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva had invited them to the ministry on 7 March for a meeting.

“The Minister said that he does not have the power to pressurise the companies because the companies have gone to court over the Rs. 1,000 minimum daily wage issue, adding that the said case is coming up in April. Then, we requested that they bring in new laws for the plantation sector,” said Kandasamy.

The ministry convened a Wages Board in early 2021, which decided that plantation companies must pay Rs. 1,000 as a minimum daily wage to the estate workers. However, this decision has since been challenged in court by the RPCs.

In a statement made yesterday, de Silva said that although the Government established Rs. 1,000 as the minimum daily wage for plantation workers through a Wages Board, the RPCs have challenged it in court, thus making it impossible for the Government to make laws to stipulate a minimum daily wage until the court proceedings are over. Furthermore, de Silva said that trade unions should come to an agreement about the rights of plantation workers in order to minimise the harm that they face.

For more on this story see Amalini’s great thread <https://twitter.com/Amaliniii/statu...>

Pamodi Waravita

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