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Tuesday, 18 February 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Cheranka Mendis
Despite Sri Lanka having a strong culture of unions, a leading international trade union leader yesterday called for improved labour laws in line with global standards to improve rankings.
Global Union Federation-Industriall (GUFI) General Secretary Yruki Raina on a short visit to Sri Lanka met with Labour and Labour Relations Deputy Minister Rear Admiral Dr. Sarath Weerasekara last morning and also met President Mahinda Rajapaksa for talks on bolstering worker rights.
Raina, who noted that his task was to deliver a message to the President and Labour Ministry that the world is watching, listed the issues of freedom of association, casualisation of workforce and difficulties that arise between multinational companies and employers as key concerns.
Under the question of freedom of association, Raina noted that even though laws have been made to facilitate this, the right of workers to join a union of their choice in practice doesn’t happen.
“There are lots of aggressive actions by employers who don’t want to give their workers their fundamental rights. It is important that the Sri Lankan Government takes responsibility that good laws are put into practice.”
He recalled that President Rajapaksa, when he was Labour Minister in 1994 pushed through ‘Worker’s Charter’ an excellent document showing how Sri Lanka developed its labour rights and the conditions of workers.
“That being done, and the fact that Sri Lanka is at a top spot in South Asia in the Human Development Index shows that progress has been made. However, the right to choose their unions is still a key problem.”
Expressing interest to support the Government and businesses to regain GSP Plus and create a highly conducive environment for exports, he asserted for this to come through, change must take place. “The Government needs to take measures to ensure all fundamental rights of workers are in order.”
Causalisation of the workforce is another dilemma that sheds negative light on the country. Contract labour, outsourcing even in the formal sector, must be limited. “We have to take urgent action,” Raina said.
“We want Governments around the world to limit the use of precarious work or causal work, and that every operation would be based on permanent workforce so that they have appropriate protection and decent wages.”
During his discussion with the Deputy Minister, Raina stated that the Minister was doubtful of how the raising minimum wages would affect competition in the world market. “Industriall, operating globally, sees minimum wages rising, protection of workers increasing, unions growing and I can guarantee that competitive position of Sri Lanka will not be in danger. This is happening all over the region.”
“No country should compete by exploiting the workforce. If Governments do not do anything then there will be problems such as social unrest, strikes, violence like what happened in Cambodia,” he said.
Having attended a rally of the Australian multinational Ansell workers in the Biyagama Free Trade Zone, Raina commented that after a dispute, 294 are out of work and the company has refused to negotiate a settlement. The union has taken it to Court and the Supreme Court recently distributed a statement which said the parties must find a settlement.
“We fully support the struggle of workers and we call upon the Government to step in and mediate so that they find better settlements.”
“No country lives in isolation in a globalised world. Global unions, USA, India, Japan and Australia are all watching and taking decisions, which is why I encourage the GSP Plus process and why labour laws must be in order.”
