The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) has welcomed the Government’s announcement to raise daily wages for plantation workers but raised serious concerns over how the increase will be implemented.
In a statement released by the office of TPA Leader Mano Ganesan, they questioned whether the proposed wage hike would reflect an actual increase in the basic wage — currently set at Rs. 1,350 — or if it would come through variable allowances such as attendance bonuses and performance-based incentives.
“It is a fact that only the basic wage attracts Employees’ Provident Fund contributions, not the allowances. If the President’s formula depends on increasing norms, it is nothing new. The RPCs [Regional Plantation Companies] have followed that approach for years,” Ganesan said.
He also criticised the longstanding “more norms, more pay” policy, arguing that workers often struggle to meet elevated targets due to decades of neglect in the sector, which has left plantations with dwindling yields and reduced productivity.
Calling for a structural shift in how plantation labour is treated, the TPA reaffirmed its commitment, in line with its MoU with the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) alliance, to transforming workers into stakeholders through cooperative ownership models.
“The Government must first lead by example and raise wages at the three state-run plantation companies before seeking compliance from private RPCs,” Ganesan urged, proposing a tripartite agreement between the Government, workers, and plantation companies.
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