Labour Laws! Not Slave Laws! Oppose Labour Law Reforms Resulting in Wage Slavery
Sri Lanka has a robust labour law framework, which has protected the rights of workers including women and children and ensured job security and social security protections. These laws have protected the Sri Lanka labour force for decades, over many crises. To supplement these laws, unions have consistently fought for laws against harassment at the workplace, labour protections for contract workers and occupational safety laws, which will bring the labour framework in line with international labour standards. Unions have also lobbied for the implementation of existing labour laws and an efficient Labour Department that can enforce these laws.
Despite this, employers have consistently demanded that labour laws are made ‘flexible’. Employers have argued that they should have the right to ‘fire’ workers as they please without the interference of the Labour Department. They have lobbied for the right to haphazardly fix working hours so that they are not hampered with overtime payments; complained about social security schemes burdening employers’ coffers; and sought to exploit women’s labour under the guise of ‘equal rights’ to do night work. ‘Flexible’ working arrangements proposed by employers in practice would mean the removal of maternity protections for women, child labour under the guise of ‘part time work’ and exploiting the labour of the elderly and the most vulnerable for unlivable wages. Employers have further lobbied for the freedom to fix wages as they please and to restrict union rights, practices they already engage in illegally regardless.
It is under this pressure from employers to weaken labour protections that the Government is acting in haste to rush through labour law reforms detrimental to workers. On April 3rd, 2023, Investment Promotion State Minister Dilum Amunugama speaking at the AGM of the Free Trade Zone Manufacturers’ Association stated that “there will be amendments in the labour law which will be beneficial to investors.” Similarly, the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Hon. Manusha Nanayakkara is reported to have said that our industrial laws are “scattered and complex” and integrating them was an “an essential step to encourage local and foreign investors”. He has further stated that disputes must be settled between employers and employees, in other words leaving the Labour Department’s functions redundant.
Despite Government claims that our labour laws are a deterrent to attracting investors, a 2018 Harvard University study titled ‘Sri Lanka Growth Analysis’ notes that “Sri Lanka’s strong labor standards are an often-mentioned draw for investors and brands whose customers value ethically sourced products”. The report specifically identifies strong labour protections as an investor draw, not a deterrent. What is required is a rational analysis of ways to attract investors rather than dismantle protections for workers.
Labour Laws have only two functions and two functions alone: protecting workers from exploitation by employers and ensuring workers’ labour results in wages which make a decent living possible. Any labour law amendment which violates these basic norms will reverse the gains unions in Sri Lanka and across the world have made over centuries to protect workers from work conditions that amount to slavery. The current labour law amendments proposed by employers to make laws ‘flexible’ go directly against the reasons why labour laws exist. We urge the Government to stop this untimely move to remove protections granted to workers in this time of crisis when the workers of Sri Lanka need labour protections the most.
Joint independent trade unions and mass organizations Unity – May 2023
2023 May 15