"The role of trade unions in modern Sri Lanka"

Civil war and modern human resources policies have impinged on the role of trade unions, writes Indooshan Shanthakumaran, 25, a Correspondent from Colombo in Sri Lanka, but he argues that they remain crucial to labour rights.

Every year when Labour Day comes the trade unions get active; there will be parades and meetings, the city turns in to red, every action is taken to win the members’ attention and to show the power they have among the employees.

It is seriously arguable whether the labour unions still have the unity and strength to fight the noble concepts which are there to be achieved. With the modern corporate world and globalization, along with the privatization of government departments, the labour unions have already lost the charisma and importance they used to have in good old Sri Lankan days. Let us have a close look at the devastating factors of the trade unions.

Due to the civil war (the major destructing factor of the economy) the governments encourage the private sector to enter the economy and handed over the most vulnerable departments to private firms to find a solution to the deficit budget every year. The employees were forced to cope with the changes forced on them and strictly kept away from the concept of the union. Though the current government takes notable actions to bring the departments back to the state’s hand, still the majority is yet to be brought back.

With the dawn of the new millennium, even the state corporations inherited the modern employee welfare activities and the modern human resource development concepts. The whole process of recruitment, training, promotion and transfers is all done to a written code of ethics. If   any queries or bubble outs occurred they were solved in the best possible ways without affecting the employees, therefore employees almost begin to think that a union is not needed.

The last nail in the coffin was the politicization of the trade unions. All the political parties started unions with the backing of political parties. This resulted in the split among the employees. The noble concepts of the unions are blown away and they have been cited as the places to sell political propaganda.

However, the truth is even though the interest is lost, still the need for the unions does exist, as the employees need a backup against any false charges and disciplinary actions. Still the unions are fighting for the employees to protect them from injustice, for salary hikes to match the cost of living and for rights like pensions and provident funds.

To sum up, even though the employees dislike the unions and unions are politicized, their existence is important to protect the labour rights.

photo credit: futureatlas.com via photopin cc
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About me: I am a friendly and fun loving person, highly interested in travelling around getting know different people and making lovely memories. I intend to pursue higher studies in development economics and help small and medium entrepreneurs achieve their development and their country’s development goals.

I am interested in writing about common issues that lie within the Commonwealth countries and to find some reasonable and practical solutions universally.

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Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth Youth Programme. Articles are published in a spirit of dialogue, respect and understanding. If you disagree, why not submit a response?

To learn more about becoming a Commonwealth Correspondent please visit: http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/submit-articles/commonwealthcorrespondents/

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