Veteran trade unionist urges PM to resolve outstanding labour issues
View(s):The Ceylon Federation of Labour (CFL) has urged Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe not to implement a set of planned labour sector reforms until some outstanding labour issues are resolved. T.M.R. Rasseedin, CFL Deputy General Secretary and a veteran trade unionist himself, said in a letter that while they respect the government’s prerogative to adopt laws dealing with employment generation “we urge you not to proceed with any planned labour law reform process until the following issues are remedied”.
They are as follows:
1. Amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act No. 56 of 1996 on unfair labour practices submitted by the trade unions to the Tripartite National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) giving effect to Part I of the National Workers Charter (1995).
2. Amendment to Sec. 59A of the Wages Board Ordinance unanimously agreed upon by the NLAC as far back as 2009; that deals with the phenomenon of manpower agency sub-contracted workers.
3. The submission of the new draft Act on Occupational Safety and Health to Parliament -held in abeyance since 1998 for unknown reasons.
4. The improvement of labour inspection and enforcement.
5. The passing of amendments to the Maternity Benefits Ordinance and the Shop & Office Employees Act fulfilling the observations and recommendations of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions & Recommendations of the ILO pending from 1996.
6. The removal of compulsory overtime provisions from the Factories Ordinance. Overtime to be consonant with international norms.
7. Security of Savings of workers in the EPF and ETF.
The letter noted that it was the union’s considered opinion shared by many trade unions that the government’s Medium Term Economic Development Policy Framework announced on 5th November 2015 strongly reflect the policy influences of international organisations promoting free trade in the world and envisage the freeing of land, labour and capital of all remaining restrictions and controls to entice investment both local and foreign to generate one million job opportunities. “From our point of view the removal of so-called impediments to free trade obviously also refers to reform of labour laws identified by the IMF and World Bank as discouraging FDI, without them presenting any empirical evidence to bolster their case,” it said urging the PM to resolve long-standing issues before proceeding with the reforms.
“As long as the above mentioned concerns of the trade unions remain unaddressed any envisaged labour law reform process undertaken by the government will not be viewed with favour by the working people of our country.” He said encouraged by the IMF-inspired economic policies of the government employers are pressuring labour authorities to give effect to the labour reforms while a huge backlog of compliance deficits of ratified ILO Core Conventions remain unattended. “We do welcome initiatives that seek compliance with international labour standards. We consider this as an urgent need given the glaring deficits in our local law and practices vis-à-vis the requirements set out by labour standards.
We note with regret the lack of genuine political will on the part of governments both previous and present to give effect to the observations and specific recommendations of treaty body mechanisms of the ILO,” the letter said. The CFL said any decision that may be adopted shall be done only after a proper and constructive engagement with the general public more particularly the working people of this country. “The entire process need to be transparent from its very beginning and made public through the media both electronic and print in order to enable a transparent and democratic process of engagement in your endeavours.”