evidence: On May 1, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that his government was increasing estate workers’ daily wage to 1,700 rupees ($US5.72), up from the current 1,000 rupees. He made the announcement at a May Day rally organised by the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) at Kotagala in the Nuwara-Eliya district. [...] In April 2021, President Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s government announced a 1,000-rupee daily wage via a gazette notification in an attempt to undermine estate workers’ strikes for a higher wage. The PA initially rejected the increase only to accept it after judicial intervention. However, it then devised various methods, including increasing daily production targets, to avoid paying the higher daily wage. [...] The All Ceylon Workers Union, which is controlled by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has called for a 2,000-rupee daily wage for estate workers. It has no significant following in the estates, however, and always falls into line with the other unions’ pro-company wage policy.