Sri Lanka’s trade unions seek clarification on Sino – Lanka MoU on labour issues
Sri Lanka’s trade unions have sought immediate clarification relating to contents of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November last year between Sri Lanka and China on strengthening cooperation on labour-related issues as it was kept as a secret during the past three months.
Trade union leaders have been kept in the dark by the state authorities by not disclosing details of the Sino –Sri Lanka MoU, the Secretary of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZ and GSEU) Anton Marcus said.
He told the Business Times that he has brought this to the notice of the Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge and ministry officials on this matter.
He noted that their main concern was as to whether the government is going to ease labour laws in the country providing advantage for employers like in China as the MoU deals with labour policy of the two countries.
It is not clear as to whether, this agreement was signed for the welfare of Chinese workers in the country, he added.
However a senior official of the Labour Ministry said that Sri Lankan labour laws are applicable for all foreign workers including Chinese working in Sri Lanka in various projects and institutions.
Employers should pay their Employees Provident Fund and Employees Trust Fund money for these workers and employers should obtain a worker permit to recruit foreigners, he noted.
Mr. Marcus said the National Labour Advisory Council, including unions as members, was scheduled to meet on March 3 but had been postponed. Even so, the authorities had failed to provide a copy of the MoU, as promised, ahead of that planned meeting.
He said that trade unions are concerned about the attitude of the government as it was the duty of the state authorities to disclose facts in the MoU as it is of public interest.
According to latest statistics of the Labour Ministry, there are 6,600 Chinese workers in Sri Lanka
The main areas covered by the MoU are believed to be related to labour policies, promoting labour relations, social protection, employment promotion, and the coordination and cooperation in international labour affairs of ILO and other world labour organisations,
“It is expected to strengthen collaboration between two countries in respect of field of labour based on strategies such as bilateral study visits, sharing of knowledge in relevant fields, training workshops, bilateral seminars, and annual conferences” the senior Labour Ministry official said.
The objective of the agreement is to strengthen the mutual relationship between the two countries and to promote bilateral exchange and co-operation in the field of labour policy, he added.