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| Sunday, 2 October 2005 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Kahawatte plantations envisions partners in progress Kahawatte Plantations Limited, which launched a novel participatory approach to build bridges of understanding between their Managers, Trade Unions and workers three years ago, celebrated their third anniversary with a felicitation workshop for all Trade Union officials in the region last week. The novel initiative was the brainchild of Dan Seevaratnam, the Executive Deputy Chairman of Kahawatte Plantations Limited. When Kahawatte Plantations limited was taken over by the Dilmah Group in 2001, the industrial relations climate in this company was very hostile, judging by the 320 outstanding labour tribunal cases at that time. Within three years, due to the Partners-in-progress program, the human relations climate has improved tremendously and currently there are only 18 labour tribunal cases that are pending conclusion. Even in the area of quality management, the company, which was ranked 18th out of 20 plantation management companies by the Sri Lanka Tea Board in 2002, is now in the second position (July 2005). This achievement, Seevaratnam says, was possible mainly due to the guidance received from their parent company - Dilmah Group and more importantly, the harmonious industrial relations that prevailed on the plantations, which resulted in much higher productivity and quality levels. On a suggestion made by a Director of the Trade Unions at the third anniversary, a new direction in this initiative was formulated as "Partners-in-Development". In the next three years, while the management of Kahawatte Plantations
would endeavour to uphold the guiding principles of Partners-in-Progress,
they would now endeavour to pursue the principles of
Partners-in-Development-"Development for the workers and their families as
well as for the company". |
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