Plantation workers demand hike in daily wage

COLOMBO(News 1st): Plantation workers staged protests on Sunday seeking an increment of their daily wage up to Rs 1000. The National Estate Workers Union had organized a protest in Passara insisting that they would not give up their struggle until their daily wages are increased to Rs 1000. Meanwhile, plantation workers in Matale also staged a protest along the Elkaduwa - Wattegama main road citing similar demands. Meanwhile, the Sunday Times newspaper reported that the government has decided to Gazette a minimum wage of Rs. 1,000 for estate workers. This decision had been made after failing to reach a consensus with plantation companies. However, regional plantation companies have come up with a final proposal suggesting workers could earn more than Rs 1,000 daily while maintaining Rs 725 as a basic wage. The cabinet had approved a proposal to solve this through the Wages Board as the government had insisted on increasing the basic wage up to Rs 1000. Against such a backdrop, the Sunday Times reported that there is speculation that the Government is planning to take over some underperforming Regional Plantation Companies and to allow India's Adani Group to run them.