Estate Workers: Deprived Working Community In Sri Lanka

by Hasitha Ayeshmantha-Wednesday, April 06, 2016

With the new government coming into power with a bagful of promises, especially towards the interests of the country’s deprived working community,The Sunday Leader learns that the estate sector salary issues are yet to fall upon the government’s watchful gaze.

Several sources from the plantations sector raised concerns over the deteriorating standards of the sector and said that the government should divert more attention towards investing in the wellbeing of the Sri Lankan estate worker community. According to our sources, without implementing a proper salary raise, the government could not expect higher revenue from the sector.

Even though the estate worker salary hike was proposed sometime back by several parties, according to estate worker unions, insufficient government intervention has resulted in present consequences. They allege that with a proper salary index and mechanism to tackle the requirement, the productivity of the sector will also continue to recline.

The union representatives said that already a large number of the estate sector workers, especially from the age group between 25-40 years, have started leaving the plantations industry and moving towards more urban areas in search of better employments. They warn that at the present rate, the industry would possibly face a labour shortage in the near future.

Further elaborating on the point, the union representatives said that to date, the estate workers have had no proper representation. Therefore, the necessities and the requirements of the estate working community are not being presented in the right context to the decision makers, lamented the union representatives.                Read More »