Four trade unions object to new Decent Work programme
View(s):Four major Sri Lanka unions have complained about the recent launch of the Decent Work Country Programme 2018-2022 (DWCP) by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) saying it was shrouded in secrecy.
The complaint has been made in a letter to ILO Director General Guy Rider by the Ceylon Bank Employees Union, Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Workers Union, the Ceylon Federation of Labour and the Estate Staffs Union, urging that the proposal be retracted until a more transparent approach is initiated.
“The overwhelming majority of workers of Sri Lanka are determined to ensure the secrecy shrouded scandalous attempt by the ILO Colombo office to smuggle the agenda of employers under the guise of a DWCP is not permitted to continue. Should the ILO Colombo office choose to proceed with the impugned DWCP we will no doubt be compelled with utmost reluctance to mobilise the strengths of all genuine organisations of workers to ensure the clandestine attempt is defeated and such manipulations are not repeated,” it said.
The letter urged the ILO and the UN to retract the “secrecy shrouded scandalous 2018-2022 DWCP” and begin forthwith a genuine DWCP setting a process that is transparent, inclusive and ensures the participation of all concerned social stakeholders.
Similar letters of concern were sent to the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Relations and the ILO Director Colombo.
In its letter to the ILO Director General, the unions said:
“We reiterate that every citizen should be able to have a job that enables them to live a good life in which their basic needs are met. This is why stakeholders of employment should be urged to have policies and legal mechanisms to guarantee creation and regulation of not just any jobs, but decent jobs for everybody. This is a right that we as a country have pledged to uphold before the ILO. It’s also a right that our government has pledged to realise through the 8th UN Sustainable Development Goal.
“However today’s jobs do not provide:
- An income that one can live on
- Workers and their dependents sufficient protection in the event of an accident or health related problem
- Provide sufficient free time to spend with one’s family, spouse, children and friends
- A just and fair working atmosphere that will let one achieve career goals
- Terms and conditions of employment that can realise one’s future expectations
- Permission to exercise the lawful right to seek redress to one’s grievances through means of collective action at the place of work
- Sufficient social protection that can secure workers in the event of sudden loss of employment or retirement.
“The participation rate of females in our labour force is alarmingly low. Often conditions of employment in the private sector are not conducive for the discharging of their labour. Vital issues of the public sector are not reflected in our national decent work programmes. No laws for occupational safety and health exist for public sector workers. The state apparatus for the enforcement of laws relating to employment is flawed and the labour inspectorate is unable to perform their duties effectively.
“Compliance with ratified conventions of the ILO inconsistencies is characterised with glaring decisions of the ILO Governing Body, Committee on Freedom of Association with regard to Sri Lanka are blatantly disregarded. There is no credible and legally valid tripartite engagement mechanism to address issues of the world of work through the exchange, information, consultations and negotiations leading to agreements among stakeholders of employment, as required by the principles of the ILO on social dialogue.
“Past DWCPs for 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 have failed to reflect genuine concerns of workers and do not address the critical issues of the world of work.”