Trade union leaders have accused the government of ignoring the unions by revising the labor laws from time to time for the benefit of employers.
Leader of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees, Anton Marcus said, “the minister of labour and foreign employment does not really care about the representatives of trade unions. He’s not ready to have a discussion with us. This government’s policy regarding trade unions is shown by the minister of labour.”
Unions representing the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) held a meeting at the Colombo Public Library Auditorium on Friday (21) condemning the government’s practice of excluding trade unions.
Anton Marcus further said the labour ministry kept silent about a request made to increase the basic salary of a worker to 21,000 rupees per month.
“Employing women workers for night shifts and adding changes to the Termination of Service Act have been done arbitrarily by the minister himself in a way that benefits the employers”
The Ceylon Federation of Labour (CFL), Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union ( FTZ & GSEU), The Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya and The Ceylon Federation of Labour (CFL) are represented in the National Labor Advisory Council.
Recently, the minister of Labour, Manusha Nanayakkara had refused to discuss with trade union leaders and ignored them when they paid a visit to meet him at the ministry.
Leslie Devendra, the General Secretary of Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya stated, “The minister sent us a secretary saying he wants to speak to us. We must protest against the contempt of ignoring the leaders of the trade unions. I was kicked out of my job during J.R.Jayawardene’s time, but we did not fall back, we kept on fighting.”
The deputy secretary of The Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), Sellaiya Palaninathan, points out that rejecting the trade union leaders is an attack on the entire labour force as they are the representatives of the working class people.
“We must increase the bargaining power of the working class. We must surround the Labour ministry and protest against the ministers who engage in arbitrary activities.
