Labour and Foreign Employment Minister is planning to introduce special laws to protect plantation workers’ rights.
Minister Manusha Nanayakkara mentioned this during a discussion at the Ministry premises with representatives of plantation trade unions. The minister paid special attention to the unresolved issues that have plagued plantation workers for 200 years.
Therefore, the minister advised bringing special laws relevant to plantation workers’ rights and including them when labour laws are drafted this year relevant to the budget proposals.
“Plantation workers are not currently considered public sector or private sector employees and are not covered by wage control boards. “The minister expressed confidence that the new laws brought in for plantation workers will give them better protection when it comes to work related issues,” he said.
Following the issue raised by the plantation unions regarding the letters sent by the Labour Department, the minister advised to send the letters in Sinhala and in Tamil to the plantation workers, which they could read and understand.
source-daily mirror
