Global trade unions strongly backing strikers at Ansell Lanka, says top union official
BIYAGAMA – The Government, in spite of the disastrous consequences migrant workers from Sri Lanka face, is widely encouraging women to take up jobs in other countries with the only motive of earning foreign exchange in a sinister move to gradually reduce the local employment base of Free Trade Zones.
This was stated by Anton Marcus, General Secretary, Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union when he and the workers of Ansell Lanka, Biyagama FTZ who are on strike met Jyrki Raina, General Secretary of the Geneva-based IndustriALL Global Union Federation at Biyagama last Sunday.
He was visiting the country to show solidarity to striking Ansell Lanka workers and to assure them that his organisation will muster agitation of all the workers around the world to get a settlement of the Ansell Lanka dispute.
At the meeting with Mr. Raina, Mr. Marcus said that the government is not concerned about the plight of the workers or to settle the unemployment problem of the country as it is practicing armchair-economic policies – loans from other countries and exporting mostly women to earn foreign exchange.
He said that if not for the foreign exchange earnings of these women, the government would have gone bankrupt.
He said that the government is not concerned about the safety of these poor women who go to alien lands to earn a living and it appeared to be most risky as some of them return home in coffins.
In a pensive mood: One of the participants at the meeti ng. Pic by Quintus Perera
Speaking of Ansell Lanka, makers of surgical gloves, he said that the treatment of workers by the management is so appalling that the pressure of work caused one girl to urinate on the production line itself and another went unconscious when she suppressed the urge to urinate.
When Business Times verified this allegation, an official at the HR department of Ansell Lanka, said the incidents mentioned were utter falsehoods.
Mr. Marcus said the root cause of the strike was because the girls were producing 60 pairs of gloves per minute but the management demanded 70 pairs. He said that the Ansell Lanka Management even reduced the incentive allowance by half.
Mr. Raina, while assuring and reassuring a victory for the Ansell Lanka workers struggle, said that their union is one of the largest in the world and already all their members and members of other global trade unions have been appraised of the plight of Ansell Lanka workers and they too would agitate for an early settlement of this dispute.
Over and over again, he urged the depressed workers to be courageous and determined and fight back as hard as possible, and thus they would soon be victorious as the workers of the entire world would rally round them to pressurise Ansell Lanka to settle the dispute favourable to workers.
Though there has been assurances and reassurances of a victory and praising the courage of the workers on strike, given the situation of a government where it has least concern for the people, these workers are in fear of losing their livelihood.
Mr. Marcus said that this is the longest strike in the Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka stretching to almost three months and this fact itself is of grave concern to striking workers as the management would employ various tactics to prolong any settlement ably supported by the government.
Though these workers gathered in front of the Biyagama FTZ to receive Mr. Raina and repeatedly shouted ‘Jayawewaa’, their grim faces told the story of what feared most – losing their jobs.
Among these workers there were pregnant mothers, parents carrying their children, in some cases, as young as one year old to face any eventuality as it matters to their future and the future of their families. Some of these workers were reluctant to speak to the Business Times as there have been are incidents of assault. S.M. Sarath from Galle said that he has been with Ansell Lanka for 19 years and his wife Susima Jayawardene too is employed here. He said that they both toiled day and night and they are now in a stable position with two kids, five year old and one year old.
They bought a land he said and built a house too and if they lose their jobs all what they achieved would be reversed.
At the meeting some of these workers fired a number of questions at Mr.Raina and one of them said that Sri Lanka has ratified 40 ILO Covenants but they have not been legalised. He said that there should be a campaign to force the government to legalise them.
Settlement of workers disputes take a long time, he said and that there should be some legal provision to settle them within six months’ time.
Another girl said that the system of recruiting workers on contract basis to catch up the production lost by workers on strike must be stopped and there should be laws to implement it.
She said that such recruitment seriously affects efforts of work stoppages.
When another girl revealed the agonies they underwent in the production lines, tears were rolling out from the eyes of many of these girls, may be not because of reminiscing past experiences, but wondering what their future would be if they lose their jobs.