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| Sunday, 21 September 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Protest campaign by plantation workers By P. Krishnaswamy Restive plantation workers of 42 ailing tea estates under the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) and the State Plantation Corporation (SPC) will begin a 'green leaves selling and proceeds sharing' protest campaign from tomorrow, defying management orders. The campaign in estates in Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Matale, Rattota and Panwila areas is to protest against mis-management and to make up for their un-paid wages. The campaign comes in the wake of a Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) proposal to the Government to hand over all loss-making estates to them to be managed under a proposed business venture. CWC Deputy President M.S.Sellasamy said that about 25,000 workers of these estates have decided to launch the campaign as their wages for August is yet to be paid, while wages for the previous eight months were paid irregularly, causing them extreme hardships. They will gather the green leaves, sell them to outside buyers and share the proceeds among them on a co-operative society basis. The workers will also protest against the presence of management executives in the estates, he said. About 110,000 family members were dependent on the workers who had found it difficult to eke out a living due to the non-payment of the wages and this matter was repeatedly brought to the Government's notice, he said, adding that the CWC's willingness to run the estates under a peoplised business company has already been communicated to the Government. |
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