Can afford only 10-13 per cent hike: Planters

 

"We are not in a position to afford any wage hike at the moment and the demand for Rs 500 per day is preposterous," N. Dharmaraj, president of the United Planters' Association of South India, told reporters here on Tuesday.

 

They would be able to offer nothing more than 10-13 per cent of the existing wages. "The average increase in wages in the last 30 years during the tripartite agreement with three-year validity is in the range of 10-13 per cent," he said.

 

Dharmaraj, however, said that it was for the Association of Planters of Kerala, state government and trade unions to take a final decision in this regard. He said the basic minimum wage in plantations in the state is Rs 232 per day.

 

"The total earning per day for a worker is Rs 382 when we add benefits such PF, DA, social and medical costs," he added.

 

The wage agreement in the plantation sector in the state expired in December 2014 and negotiations for a fresh wage pact have been going for the past few months, he said.

 

A joint council of trade unions in the plantation sector has launched an indefinite strike demanding Rs 500 as minimum wage under the new wage pact.

 

Mr Dharmajan said that daily wage rate prevailing in other sectors of the economy in Kerala cannot be compared with the wages in the plantation sector.

 

Daily wage earners in the state may earn more than Rs 600 per day but they don't have permanent jobs. In the plantation sector, every worker is entitled for wages everyday including holidays, he said.  

 

The cost of production and fall in prices have put a question mark over the survival of the plantation sector in the state, Dharmaraj said.