Plantation Unions write to Labour Chief over non-payment of state benefits

Tuesday, 10 May 2011 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shezna Shums

The Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre (JPTUC) in a letter to the Commissioner of General of Labour yesterday (9) has brought to his notice the pressing issue of non payment of EPF and other service gratuities of state owned corporation workers.

The letter by the JPTUC stated that there were several estates managed by the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation, the Janatha Estate Development Board and the Elkaduwa Plantations Ltd. in the Kandy and Matale Districts.

In its letter the JPTUC has stated that the Estate Superintendents have not remitted the EPF contributions of workers to the Central Bank for several years.

Several complains have also been received where a large number of workers retired from service, demised or left employment due to illness have not been paid their service gratuities for several years and in some case for more than 10 years.

“We understand that the non-payment of EPF and Gratuities run into several million,” highlighted the letter which was signed by the General Secretary JPTUC S. Ramanathan.

Further noting that the unions have been making complaints to the Labour Offices, and the JPTUC knows that the Labour Offices were taking legal action against Estate Superintendents and recovered payments through Courts.

However the JPTUC now understands that the Labour Offices are not taking legal action for reasons best known only to them and there are a large number of workers left stranded without getting any relief from the Labour Department which has been delegated wide powers under the EPF & Gratuity Acts in following the easy method of filing certificates and recovering the amounts due to the workers.

The JPTUC urges the relevant authorities to look into this matter and take appropriate action in the matter to helpout these hapless workers.

The JPTUC has addressed similar letters to the Secretary Ministry of Labour & Labour Relations, the Commissioner of Labour/EPF and the Commissioner of Labour/Legal.