Lankan unions propose national minimum wage for private sector
View(s):Sri Lanka’s trade unions are proposing a national minimum wage for private sector employees and to implement an unemployment benefit insurance scheme as well as a pension scheme for Employees Provident Fund members and a social security scheme for the informal sector.
They have also proposed to set up a national wages commission for the private sector.
These were the major suggestions included in a 9-point proposal submitted jointly by four leading trade unions to the National Pay Commission appointed by the President to assist the government in formulating National Wage Policy.
In computing the private sector minimum wage the basis should be the present public sector minimum wage amounting to Rs. 21,876 inclusive of allowances for increases in cost of living and inflation, trade unions pointed out.
They noted that when arriving at a decision on the minimum wage of private sector employees, the commission should pay attention on the 2012/2013 household income and expenditure report of the Department of Census and Statistics which stated that the average required income of a family of four was calculated as Rs. 48,281.
Trade unions emphasised the need of reviewing the national minimum wage periodically and revise the same in step with the rise in cost of living and inflation. The unemployment benefit insurance scheme proposed by them should include economic benefits during unemployment, training, re-training and job placement, trade unions said adding that employees and the government should be contributors to the fund.
They also proposed a monthly pension scheme for the private sector which should not be mandatory and accepts the right of the workers to decide as to whether he or she opt for the new pension scheme or continue as a fully active member with the present EPF.
When a worker agrees to join the new scheme, the worker would have the option of retaining the right to a lump sum payment from the EPF at the time of retirement and a monthly pension, depending on duration of service, trade union leaders said.
They also proposed a multiple social security system for EPF members transferring unclaimed EPF accounts to this scheme.
Meanwhile the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has submitted that the Sri Lankan Private Sector needs a minimum wage fixation mechanism for lower categories of workers as envisaged under the Wages Boards Ordinance subject to a restructure of the composition of the Wages Boards.
The Wages Boards trades need to be simplified and also widened in order to include almost all workers in industry excluding the white collar employees, the EFC said.
A member of the National Pay Commission said that they will submit proposals received by them to five committees for their review.
An interim report will be presented to the government before the 2015 budget, he added.
The memorandum by the trade unions containing the nine point proposal was submitted to the National Pay commission under the signatures of I.W. Subasinghe, General Secretary of Ceylon Federation of Trade Union; Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary of Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union; T.M.R. Rassideen, Deputy General Secretary of the Ceylon Federation of Labour; Linus Jayathilaka , President, United Federation of Labour and Suranga Naulage, Chief Organiser, Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya.