Strike
AS people in the rest of southern Sri Lanka celebrated the Sinhala-Tamil New Year on 13 April, Plantation workers were preparing for a massive show of strength. The one-week strike in the Hill Country from 22 April has resulted in the loss of Rs 500 million. The 23 Plantation management companies are adamant that they can ill afford the trade union demand for Rs 8 wage increase per day and 300 days work in a year without increase in productivity. They say labour costs have soared leading to high production costs. Analysts point out that while blame is placed on workers, management staff who have overall responsibility continue to receive high wages. High taxes bleed the industry to fund welfare measures while the Plantation worker remains marginalised in education, health and housing.
Over 300,000 Plantation Tamils are yet to receive citizenship certificates which government agencies demand when transacting official business. Plantation observers question the wisdom of initiating a resolution in Parliament to nullify the denial of Sirimavo Bandaranaike's civic rights by the UNP regime without solving the problems of the Plantation Tamils arising from the deprivation of citizenship for four decades. Plantation workers also do not receive payments under the PA government's poverty alleviation programme, Samurdhi, on the basis that they have work for 20 days a month. But on many estates less than 15 days are offered. Plantation workers are also excluded from national housing schemes.
Solidarity of the unions has been vital for the success of the strike. The 12 union-strong JPTUC joined the CWC strike, although on a different set of demands. The odd one out was deputy minister P Chandrasekaran's UPF which says industrial action on plantations should not merely be over economic gain but aim at political rights.
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