A protest urging the authorities to ensure the civil rights of estate workers, was staged yesterday before the Bo tree in Fort, yesterday.
The protest had been organized by the Estate Workers’ Centre and the Workers’ Struggle Centre.
Workers’ Struggle Centre Organizing Secretary Duminda Nagamuwa said the struggle was to compel the government to ensure that estate workers get a plot of land, a house, an address of their own, and a salary of Rs. 1,000 per day.
He said although the country celebrated its 70th independence day, the issues of estate workers numbering nearly one million, have not been solved for over a 200 years.
He added that those workers dwelling in the Central Province in the Ratnapura, Kegalle, Matara, and Galle districts, do not have an address of their own, and receive their letters through the Superintendent of their respective estates. They do not come under a local government authority administration. He further said that those people have been given pledges from time to time by politicians, but no action had been taken. He also added that the politicians have to address those workers issues without delay, as they contribute one of the major export products of the country—