The Hindu Business Line : Rubber plantation strike called off

TRADE unions have called off the 10-day-old strike in the rubber plantation sector in the State after an agreement on productivity-linked interim advance payments, among others, was reached in discussions with the Labour Minister, Mr Babu Divakaran.

Announcing this, a spokesman of the Association of Planters in Kerala (APK) quoted Mr A.E. Joseph, Chairman, as saying that the meeting also decided to pay, against wages, an interim ad-hoc advance at the rate of Rs 5 per day to the workers with effect from Thursday (September 23).

The wage revision process will commence with immediate effect and will be completed within 30 days. According to the Minister, it is the declared policy of the State and Central Governments to link any increase in wages to productivity. He also called for a `give and take' approach in the larger context of discussing revision of wages.

The Minister also made it clear to the unions that any future discussion on wage revision would seek to assess the capacity of the particular industry before fixing a wage.

The decision to link the same to `increase in productivity' is a step in the right direction since it will help equip the industry fight international competition. It will also help avoid the repeat of a crisis that the industry has had to pass through in the recent past.

More Stories on : Rubber | Trade & Labour Unions | Kerala

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