Wanna a cuppa tea?

[the_future_modernes]

SRI LANKA: Tea Workers’ Demand for Higher Wages Hits a Snag

COLOMBO, Sep 15 (IPS) - Tea lovers around the globe may soon have to pay more for every cup of their favorite beverage. That is, assuming tea plantation workers in one of the world’s major tea-producing countries get their demand for a significant increase in their daily wages.

Employers, however, refused to accede to the workers’ demand in their latest face-off — part of a series of negotiations that have dragged on for months and failed to end conclusively on Sep. 14.

"We were unable to finalise a deal," said O. Ramiah, secretary-general of the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre (JPTUC). Yet, he added, "(w)e are hopeful of concluding an agreement" in their succeeding meeting.

The JPTUC is one of three unions involved in joint negotiations with the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC), which represents the 22 private tea plantation companies that account for 40 percent of Sri Lanka’s tea production. The 60 percent balance comes from more than 22,000 smallholders or private individuals who have small plots of less than one acre.

The unions represent 50 percent of the organized workers on estates.MORE

?