The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe - Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chair, Hon. Chamara Sampath does not understand the salary increase, perhaps because Hon. Harsha de Silva did not explain it properly yesterday. He calculated and said salaries have increased only by about Rs. 300. This is the sort of arithmetic the Opposition keeps attempting—trying to paint a bill to deny increases to private, public and plantation sector workers. As trade unions, we have struggled for wages for years. We know that the minimum of Rs. 24,250 is rising to Rs. 40,000, and that everyone’s salaries rise from there. Looking back over a decade or two, there is broad understanding of increases across public, private, and plantation sectors. Yet they now try to undermine what is the largest wage increase in Budget history.

¶ 02 First, private sector wages. The private sector minimum is Rs. 21,000: a statutory minimum of Rs. 17,500 plus two earlier union-achieved increases of Rs. 3,500 via law, totalling Rs. 21,000. Many earn a bit more with allowances—attendance and others—bringing take-home to Rs. 28,000–30,000, but the basic is low. That is why we, in discussion with employers and their associations, decided to raise the basic. Because EPF, ETF, gratuity, bonuses, overtime—all are calculated on the basic. Therefore, we are implementing the largest basic wage increase in private sector history: raising the minimum basic from Rs. 21,000 to Rs. 30,000. By amending the National Minimum Wage of Workers Act, from 1 April, the minimum becomes Rs. 27,000, and from 1 January next year, a further Rs. 3,000 brings it to Rs. 30,000. With the higher basic, EPF/ETF, gratuity, bonuses, and overtime all rise. Banks look at basic salary for loans; this helps there too.

¶ 03 Plantation sector: Last May Day, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe suddenly said daily wage would be Rs. 1,700 but did not deliver. On 10 September we met estate owners and unions; we agreed to raise the daily minimum to Rs. 1,350. It is not enough, as they are paid daily and must work 25 days to reach Rs. 33,750. We also negotiated a Rs. 50 per extra kilo of leaves to enhance productivity incentives. We are working to ensure, by discussions with companies and unions, that plantation workers receive a monthly income closer to Rs. 40,000, otherwise living is impossible.

¶ 04 Hon. Chamara said the 30,000 recruitments cannot be paid. We clearly said we will recruit through exams and interviews to needed grades, not en masse. With six months to complete recruitment, if we take in 15,000 within six months, at an average of Rs. 100,000 per month across grades, the cost would be around Rs. 9,000 million. Even if the entry minimum is Rs. 40,000, with cost of living of Rs. 17,800, total exceeds Rs. 50,000. Still, recruiting 15,000 over six months would cost about Rs. 9,000 million, leaving Rs. 1,000 million. So it is possible; give correct figures.

¶ 05 Order, please! The House will be suspended for the lunch interval till 1.00 p.m.

¶ 06 Sitting accordingly suspended till 1.00 p.m. and then resumed.

¶ 07 [1.00 p.m.]