Worker Attitude as a Persuasive Factor for Outmigration in the Tea Plantation Sector of Sri Lanka

Worker Attitude as a Persuasive Factor for Outmigration in the Tea Plantation Sector of Sri Lanka A. M. T. P. Athauda, E. M. M. Ekanayake and G. H. I. Anjalee Abstract With a contribution of more than one seventh of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), plantation sector plays a major role in the economy of Sri Lanka. Tea is one of the major plantations in the country that has a great impact on socio-economy of the country providing over one million direct and indirect employments to people. During the past three decades, worker outmigration has made a deficiency of workforce and has become a colossal problem in the tea plantation sector since best known quality of Sri Lankan tea is mainly dependent on selective plucking that needs immense use of human labour. The purpose of this study was to identify the most persuading factor for worker outmigration and to measure the influence of worker attitudes towards estate worker outmigration. A sample survey was carried out to collect data concerning factors for outmigration; income, attitudes, level of education, type of occupation, income sources from other than estate etc. using a pretested questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data. The results revealed that the association of migration status with attitude of the workers and their level of education are above all other factors. Other factors such as occupation, income from estate, and income from outside sources do not significantly influence workers for outmigration. The results highlight the necessity of calling for measures to change the attitude of estate workers. Index Terms Attitude index, Corporate sector, Worker outmigration I. INTRODUCTION HE Plantation sector in Sri Lanka is one of the largest Tearning sectors contributed about 15% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009. About 37% of tea and rubber lands belong to the corporate plantation sector while the balance is in the hands of small holders whereas only 2% of coconut land is in the hands of Regional Plantation Companies and the State. Tea, Rubber and Coconut exports in the plantation sector accounted for 24% of foreign A. M. T. P. Athauda, E. M. M. Ekanayake and G. H. I. Anjalee are with the Department of Ahribusiness Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Plantation Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka (corresponding author phone: +94-718-202-109; fax: +94-312-299-246; e- mail: tamaraathauda@gmail.com). earnings of the country in 2009 and amongst main export products of Sri Lanka, tea is a major contributor. After privatization, there are 20 Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) managing 391 estate units with 165,395 ha of which the main crop is tea. The privatized corporate tea sector accounts for 46 % (90,324 ha) of total area of 195,000 ha and 49 % (141.32 million kg) of total black tea production of 284 million kg. The tea sector accommodates over one million workers directly and indirectly the average workforce engagement has been reduced from 301411 to 252150 during the period from 1996 to 2008. Women often consist of 75%-85% of the work force in the tea industry. Selective plucking is the main reason for the popularity of tea in the world market. Further, in the process of making tea, factory and sundry work need many worker hands and consequently tea requires labour intensely and compared to the other two plantation crops, rubber and coconut the need is much higher. The number of workers required for one acre of tea is 1 whereas rubber and coconut require only 0.5 and 0.15 respectively. However, in spite of the continuous intervention of the government in the labour market, increasing wages and benefits that affect directly to increase the cost of production without parallel productivity increase, the labour migration from the plantation sector is severe. Further, from the recent past, the plantation sector has been affecting economically negative by the labour laws such as mandatory six-day work rule and restrictions on moving labour from one plantation to another. Corporate sector tea plantations are largely dependent on resident work force (about 84% of the worker population resides in the estate). The geographical isolation of some estates (especially in up-country), socio-cultural differences (majority of the resident workers are Tamil of Indian origin), and problem with citizenship rights and ethnic conflicts related security consideration were until recently influential in keeping the estate population intact. However, there are clear indications that the availability of this worker force cannot be taken for granted. Increased access to information, citizenship rights and increase mobility has opened doors to the plantation community to participate in economic activities outside plantations. Given the stigma attached to work in the estates, traditional management practices and the harsh working conditions due to the nature of work, the estate inhabitants (the more educated and politicized youth in particular) do not give preference to estate employment [3]. The ultimate result of continuous www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 28

accumulating of dissatisfaction, humiliation, lack of esteem, stress and unrest is unbearable worker outmigration from the sector. Figure 1 shows how worker outmigration in the plantation sector has become severe during the past two decades. Most of the corporate tea plantations face considerable reduction of their work force and literature reveals that, low income from estates and poor living condition are the main factors influencing labour outmigration [2]. Numerous development projects have been implemented in the tea sector with the objective of reducing outmigration rate and also the wage rates have been raised to a moderate level and thus workers have been provided with both monetary and non-monetary benefits. Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT) is the main mandatory body to conduct projects in order for assuring satisfying welfare condition of the workers [5]. II. OBJECTIVES Increasing worker outmigration, in spite of the provided benefits indicates that there are other factors those need to be addressed in order to retain workers in their estate occupation. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out the factors affecting worker outmigration and to develop an index that shows the worker attitude towards the plantation occupation which leads to worker outmigration in the present context. Further, the study focussed on finding out whether there is any association of worker attitudes with the influenced worker outmigration. I. Data collection III. METHODOLOGY The study was carried out in two phases. During the first phase, a preliminary survey was conducted to find out the background of migration, using a sample consisting of 20 workers. The characteristics of the respondents were not much different and were homogeneous. Data were collected from a sample of 75 workers selected randomly from the pre-identified estates through face to face interviews using a pre-tested questionnaire. The questionnaire included two sections, first, to collect data related to factors affecting worker outmigration and second, to gather information relate to worker attitudes in the form of attitudinal statements; job satisfaction, satisfaction with remuneration, job security, free benefits, and job related risks, etc. Statement No A 1 A 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 TABLE 1. ATTITUDINAL STATEMENTS Attitudinal Statements Satisfied about the job condition Willing to continue the job in estate Even alternative for estate job is available, I won t select it Infrastructure of plantation is in workable condition Plantation job has a social recognition in Sri Lanka A 6 A 7 A 8 A 9 A 10 A 11 A 12 Free benefits from estate is satisfactory ( eg: housing, medical care) Social status of plantation workers is satisfactory Working conditions in plantations are satisfactory Work in plantations is not riskier than others (hazard) Job security of plantation sector is satisfactory Salary of plantation jobs is satisfactory Plantation job is the best suited for my education level Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were carried out with estate managers, estate superintendents and PHDT officers prior to the survey. According to the PHDT classification, there are two upcountry regions as Hatton and Nuwara Eliya. Three tea estates were selected from Hatton while two were selected from Nuwara Eliya. A selection criterion was based on random sampling method. II. Data Analysis Data were analysed using both Descriptive and Inferential Statistics. Chi-square test of Independence and Binary- Logistic Regression were applied to analyse data with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16.0. Nine socio-economic variables; namely (1) Income from the estate, (2) Income from outside estate, (3) Education, (4) Occupation in the estate, (5) Age, (6) Ethnicity, (7) Religion (8) Marital state and (9) Gender were identified as socio-economic factors affecting and measured the relationship of them with outmigration of the workers using Chi-square test. Data were collected from twelve attitudinal statements and the respondents were asked to assess them and give scale values on five point Likert Scale. An attitudinal index was developed based on the score values. Since the response variable was recorded as binary variables (i.e. yes/no) the Binary Logistic Regression was applied to analyse the relationship between attitude index and the status of outmigration using the following empirical model. Y = β 0 + β 1 X + ε Where: β 0, β 1 = Coefficients Y = Willing to migrate - 1 Not willing to migrate - 0 X = Attitude Index ε = Error term A. Descriptive Statistics IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Plucking was identified as the major occupation of tea industry accounting for sixty percent of the sample (Fig 2) and the majority of them are female workers accounting for www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 29

60 per cent (Fig 3). Male workers are mainly assigned for work in factory or in field for sundry work. Sixty seven percent of workers have secondary education or below (Fig 4). However, it was revealed that education level of the workers have substantially increased during the past few decades with the implementation of several projects under the attention of PHDT to develop facilities of schools in estate areas and the consequent significant development. The majority of workers, 94.7%, are Tamils because, since at the beginning of tea industry in Sri Lanka, the workers were brought from South India by British planters (Fig 5). Currently, there are second and third generations of the first worker force in the tea industry. Most of the workers are Hindus in terms of religion accounting for 76% and 16% of workers are Roman Catholic or Christians (Fig 6). 94.7% 2.7% 2.7% Tamil Sinhala Muslim Fig 5. Ethnicity differences among estate workers 12% 28% 60% 76% Plucker Sundry labor Factory labor Fig 2. Occupations in tea industry 16% 2.7% 5.3% Hindu Christian Muslim Buddhist 40% Fig 6. Religious differences among estate workers 60% 17.3% 2.7% 16% Male Female Fig 3. Gender distribution among the estate workers 64% 16-30 31-45 46-60 Above 60 67% 30.4% 5.3% Primary Secondary Tertiary Fig 4. Level of education of estate workers Fig 7. Age distribution among estate workers Majority of the workers are under the age group of 31-45 years (Fig 7). The results show that the workers of the age group of 16-30 years are the worker group that is the most eager to change their traditional occupation in estate sector. However, with the marriage or rather after having the first child, most of them join the plantation work force with the intention of having steady employment and income. Table 2 shows the demographic composition of the plantation workers. www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 30

TABLE 2. DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION OF THE PLANTATION WORKERS Variable Category Percentage (%) Occupation Plucker 60 Sundry worker 28 Factory worker 12 Gender Male 40 Female 60 Education Level Primary 30 Secondary 66 Tertiary 4 Ethnicity Tamil 95 Sinhala 3 Muslim 2 Religion Hindu 76 Christian/Roman 16 Catholic Muslim 5 Buddhist 3 Age 16-30 years 16 31-45 years 64 46-60 years 17 Above 60 years 3 B. Out-migration Openness to the external economy, obtaining citizenship rights and availability of immense job opportunities outside estates are the main factors that were observed for increased outmigration of the workers. It was revealed that half of the workers are willing to outmigrate from the estates, 51 %, while the rest of the workers, 49%, are willing to remain in their present occupation in estates. Furthermore, it was observed that the workers who are eager for out-migration are mainly looking for occupation in garment factories, shops, construction sites and even in houses as domestic helpers. Some are making their maximum effort to find the ways and means to go abroad for foreign employments. The worker perception of occupations outside estate, higher reputation and more salary, influences workers for outmigration. C. Sources of Income Income is the most important socio-economic factor among any society of people and this does not differ in the plantation sector. The study revealed that in addition to the main income source, salary from estate, sources of income from outside estate are also available for plantation workers. The immense job opportunities available for workers as external sources of income can be categorized into four types; outside estate plucking, vegetable cultivation, livestock rearing, and outside farms The favourable climate of upcountry for numerous kinds of vegetable that have high demand in the market supplies permanent and casual or part time jobs for estate workers. From vegetable cultivation, they earn more money than from other sources (Fig 8). Marginal lands and spaces around the house of workers are used for vegetable cultivation and there are developed proper marketing channels through retail collectors to sell these produce. Thirty three percent of sample works outside farms such as in flower cultivations, vegetable gardens, and animal husbandry farms (Fig 8). The occupations are either kind of permanent, casual or part time jobs. A low percentage of workers (10%) earn additional income using outside estate plucking and livestock rearing to sell fresh milk. 47% Fig 8. Other income sources of plantation workers 16% 10% 10% 70% 33% 14% Outside estate plucking Outside estate farms Animal Raising Vegetable and Flower cultivation < Rs.5000 Rs. 5001 - Rs. 10000 > Rs.10001 Fig 9. Income distribution of plantation workers Compared to the income of workers from sources outside estates, income as salary from estate is significantly less. Minimum daily wage rate of outside estate is Rs. 350 while minimum mandatory wage rate according to laws (attendance must be 75% of estate working days) is Rs. 290. If attendance falls less than 75% of working days, wage rate becomes as low as Rs. 220. Monthly salary of workers in plantation industry is mainly observed in three categories viz. less than Rs. 5000, 5001-10000 and more than 10,000. The results show that 70% of workers gain salary in the range of Rs 5001-10000 (Fig 9). The total monetary benefit is calculated to Rs. 320 with the contribution to Employees Trust Fund (ETF) and Employees Provident Fund (EPF). However, workers do not consider ETF and EPF as monetary benefits since it does not add any rupee value to their monthly salary and tend to think that such benefits are not real benefits for it is not necessary. www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 31

D. Results of Chi-square Analysis The Chi-Square Analysis was carried out to determine the association of the status of worker outmigration with identified socio-economic factors that are shown in Table 2. Migration status is expressed willing to migrate as (1) and not willing to migrate as (0). Pearson chi-square values show the association (Table 3) among the migration status and socio-demographic factors identified. TABLE 3 ASSOCIATION OF WORKER OUTMIGRATION WITH SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS Variable Pearson Chi- Probability Square Value Value (P) Occupation 0.726 0.695 Education Level 9.999 0.007* Gender 0.720 0.396 Income from 1.192 0.551 estate Income from 5.776 0.217 outside estate Ethnicity 4.114 0.128 Religion 5.847 0.119 Age 4.013 0.260 Marital state 2.001 0.157 NOTE: * - Significant at 5% level According to values, education is the only variable that has a significant association with migration status. That indicates migration is affected by the level of education of the tea plantation workers. With increase of their education level, workers prefer to out-migrate for jobs with a perceived higher salary and reputation. Interestingly, the socio-economic factors that reflect the level of income of plantation workers (i.e. income from estate and income from outside the estate) do not significantly associate with the migration status of the workers. That indicates the income is not the most persuading factor for worker outmigration in tea plantations in Sri Lanka. Since income shows no association with the migration status based on the significance levels considered and in turn that indicates there may be other reasons behind the worker outmigration. E. Attitude index Attitude Index was ranged from zero to one. The index showed whether the attitude of workers were to migrate or not; with those close to zero are more likely to migrate and those close to one are less likely to do so. Highest frequency of sample showed index value between 0.7 and 0.8 and almost hundred percent of the sample has given the index values more than 0.5 (Fig 10). Distribution of Attitude Index of sample F. Outcome of Regression analysis Fig 10. Binary logistic regression was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the Attitude Index with migration status. TABLE 4. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MIGRATION STATUS AND ATTITUDE INDEX Variable Coefficients SE Probability Value Attitude -7.951* 4.462 0.075 Index Constant 7.116 3.361 0.034 NOTE: * - Significant at 10% level SE standard Error Results revealed that the Attitude Index had a significant relationship with the migration status. This means with the increase of the attitudes towards the plantation occupation (i.e. expressed by the Attitude Index), workers are not willing to out-migrate (Table 4). An item in the questionnaire asked the respondents to voice their suggestions to overcome the out migration problem. This was estimated by means of five-point likert scale based statements as following options: (1) Develop the living condition of labour(ss1) (2) Government should pay attention (ss2) (3) Increase salary (ss3) (4) Develop nonmonetary benefits (ss4) and (5) Middle level management should pay close attention (ss5). Respondents agreed with all statements and the third suggestion, of increasing salary, scored highly among respondents (Fig 11). Statement one was scored well by 54 percent of respondents. Mid level management of plantation plays a major role in industry. It is proved by respondents of labour because of that lowest percentage (35%) have accepted the statement 5. V. CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS This study was carried out to identify the factors that affect worker outmigration in the plantation sector. Results www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 32

revealed that worker out-migration was affected by attitude of workers and level of education. This indicates that change of worker attitude is necessary for sustainability of the industry. Attitude is the most persuading factor to worker out-migrates than income. According to the suggestion of workers, they expect increased salary. Increase of salary can be used as a tool to change the attitude. So plantation companies should pay attention to the attitude of work force than monetary and non-monetary benefits. Enhancing the positive thinking and removing of inferiority mindset from estate workers will assist to change their attitudes. Workshops, training programs, traditional ceremonies can also be utilized as motivators. Together with these, management should look into worker needs and provide immediate solutions to motivate workers. Plantation companies can form a special unit in human resource divisions to study in more depth the attitudes of their estate level workers. Education and migration status has a positive association and education can affect to change their attitudes. Future studies can better focus on the role of education on worker attitudes and outmigration, and the application of existing motivation related management practices to retain and enhance the estate worker force. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to express their gratitude to Mr. R. K. B. Galagoda (Asst. Superintendent), Mr. L.B. Nimal de Silva (Field Officer), the officers who responded, and workers of estates who supported to collect the date. REFERENCES [1] Arunatilake, N., (2001) Do estate welfare programs affect labour performance. Journal of the National Institute of Plantation Management, 17, 8-29. [2] Bambaradeniya, G., (2003) Practical implications for today s managers on employee motivation in the plantation sector, Journal of the National Institute of Plantation Management 19(2), 24-29. [3] Dunham, D., Arunatilake, N., and Perera, R., (1997). The labour situation on Sri Lanka Tea estate. A view to 2005, Colombo, Institute of policy studies of Sri Lanka. [4] Ministry of plantation industry, (2008). Plantation sector statistical pocket book Available: http://www.plantationindustries.gov.lk/english/publicati on.htm [5] Muthuthantri, C.J., (2003). Effects of monetary and non monetary benefits on motivation of tea plantation workers in up country of Sri Lanka. Journal of the National Institute of Plantation Management, 19(2), 15-18. www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 33

Percentage 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 No. of Workers Annexure Fig 1. Deterioration of Total Workforce in the plantation Sector 900,000 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 Year Total Mgt. Co.s SLSPC JEDB Fig 11. Suggestions of workers to overcome the problem Strongly agree Agree Not disagree or agree Disagree Strongly disagree 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ss1 ss2 ss3 ss4 ss5 Sugection statement www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJSSM: Volume: 01, Number: 11, Mar-2012 Page 34