Government-level efforts are on to get the five-day-old plantation labour strike for wage hike called off ahead of Monday’s scheduled talks between the plantation managements and the joint council of organised trade unions.

The Kerala government is said to be keen to get the strike ended by Monday because of the upcoming local bodies’ elections for which the notification is likely to be issued on Monday.

Once the notification is issued, the model code of conduct will be in place and hence the government’s hands will be held back from announcing key measures.

Meanwhile, the State-wide strike kept work on the plantations at standstill for the fifth day on end. It crippled work on large tea, rubber and cardamom plantations owned by corporate houses.

In Munnar, which is the nerve centre of the plantation strike, two streams of agitations for the same demand of ₹500 as daily wage, were staged on Friday too.

Six activists of the joint council of trade unions went on a hunger strike while the agitation by the collective of women workers of Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Limited staged dharnas.

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