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Tuesday, 6 April 2021 01:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Uditha Jayasinghe
Payment of a Rs. 1,000 daily wage to plantation workers took a fresh step yesterday after the Court of Appeal refused to grant an interim order to plantation companies suspending payment until the writ petitions filed by them are heard, a top official said.
Twenty Regional Plantation Companies (RPC) applied to court seeking to quash by way of Writ of Certiorari (Writ Petition) the decision of the Wages Board to increase the minimum daily wage of estate workers to Rs. 1,000.
The RPCs contend such a wage increase would cause significant losses to them and impact the overall industry adversely.
The petitions were filed last month and effectively suspended a Wages Board decision to raise the plantation daily wage to Rs. 1,000.
The Court of Appeal yesterday refused to grant interim relief sought by the RPCs. Justice Obeysekera and Justice Mayadunne Corea noted that these RPCs were profit making at the moment by their own admission and that the damage employees would suffer by depriving them of the wage increase would be far greater than the damage that would be caused to the RPCs by the grant of the interim orders prayed for. Thus, irremediable mischief would be far greater to the employees and the Balance of Convenience is not in favour of the RPCs.
Court issued notice on the Respondents and fixed hearing for 5 May.
“The refusal by the Court to issue an interim order means that the plantation companies should pay the Rs. 1,000 daily wage, which started from 5 March, until the petition hearings are concluded,” confirmed Labour Director General Prabath Chandrakeerthi.
Romesh de Silva PC with Sugath Caldera and Niran Anketell appeared for the Regional Plantation Companies. Avindra Rodrigo PC with Ashiq Hassim and Vishwaka Peiris appeared for some members of the Wages Board.
Kaushalya Nawaratne appeared for several other members of the Wages Board while Additional Solicitor General Susantha Balapatabendi appeared for the Minister of Labour and the Commissioner General of Labour.
The gazette was issued last month by Labour Ministry Secretary M.P.D. Mapa after the Wages Board cleared the way on 1 March. Under the gazette, the basic wage has been raised to Rs. 900 and workers will be given an additional Rs. 100 as a budgetary allowance. The new daily wage was to be applicable from 5 March.
In January, a Cabinet paper tabled by the Labour Minister received approval for the salary issue to be decided upon by the Wages Board as the collective agreement was accepted to have lapsed at the end of January.
In February, the matter was placed before the Wages Board after nearly 14 rounds of talks between the trade unions, RPCs and the Employers’ Federation, talks that had gone on for over two years and still failed to reach an agreement.
