Below the belt
View(s):A.E. Gunasinghe, widely regarded as the ‘Father of the Labour Movement in Sri Lanka’ must surely be turning in his grave these days (figuratively speaking)!
Why? Because his beloved labour movement, including the rights of workers and employees, has been downgraded by the current administration.
I didn’t realise this….….and this applies to many in the trade union movement itself, until H.R. Perera, the human resource pundit, brought it to my notice.
It all began on this warm and sunny Thursday just as Kussi Amma Sera was chatting at the gate with her friends Serapina and Mabel Rasthiyadu. From the snatches of conversation I heard, they appeared to be discussing a strike at a garment factory outside Colombo.
“Apey gama langa garment factory ekaka, giya sumane weda varjanayak thibuna (There was a strike at a garment factory near our village),” said Kussi Amma Sera.
“Weda kerana lamai-te prashnayak wuna-da (Was that a problem for the workers)?” asked Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Also interjecting with a question was Serapina: “Padi-adu prashnayak da (Was it a wage issue)?”
“Ov……..dawas thunak witharai, eeta-passe, visadanna wuna (Yes, the issue was there for three days and then resolved),” responded Kussi Amma Sera.
It was at this point that the phone rang with H.R. Perera on the line. “Machan, did you hear? The labour portfolio is no longer a Cabinet position. It has been given non-Cabinet portfolio status,” he said.
“Wha…aaat?” I blurted out loud, incredulously, adding: “What on earth have they gone and done this time?”
I then vaguely recalled a government announcement where the labour portfolio held by Minister Daya Gamage was re-assigned as the Social Empowerment Minister and parliamentarian Ravindra Samaraweera assigned as the non-Cabinet Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations. Earlier all subjects were held by Gamage, as a cabinet minister.
“This is a major mess up,” said Perera, adding: “A real faux pas by the authorities.”
A new Cabinet of Ministers was appointed after the 52-day political impasse brought about by the President sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet, only to restore the status quo after the Supreme Court ruled that the Presidential decree had violated the Constitution. However, in order to give many party faithfuls positions in a limited Cabinet of 30 and in non-Cabinet positions, some changes were made like in the case of Daya Gamage.
Labour is an integral component of any society and as important as education, health and defence. The government by assigning labour to a non-Cabinet minister has devalued the position that labour holds in the country’s economic and social development status and is akin to relegating either education or health to a non-Cabinet position.
Consider these statistics: In 2017, the country’s employed population (in the 18 years and over category) was 8.1 million with almost 7 million being in rural areas. This means that nearly 40 per cent of the total population of 21.4 million was employed or doing some kind of work. The employment rate was 95.9 per cent of the labour force with 4.1 per cent being unemployed (which technically means the country has achieved full employment status).
Look at the subjects assigned to the Cabinet ministers: Defence, Mahaweli Development, Vocational Training, Tourism, Finance, Public Enterprises, City Planning, Foreign Affairs, Health, Education, Power and Energy, Home Affairs, Industry and Commerce, Megapolis, Agriculture, Public Administration, Highways, Housing, Lands, Transport and Civil Aviation, Justice, Ports, Telecommunication, etc.
In fact, when Gamage was first named the Cabinet minister, the portfolio was listed as ‘Labour, Trade Union Relations and Social Empowerment’ which implied that labour was more important than Social Empowerment (which continues to be assigned Cabinet status). Furthermore, there was a time when foreign employment was assigned Cabinet status, the portfolio read as ‘Labour and Foreign Employment’.
Many of the subjects assigned above are not as important as labour. On the other hand, what is tourism without labour? What is education without labour – since children are educated eventually to join the labour force of the country? Why is foreign employment (1.5 million workers overseas) more important than labour (over 8 million workers)?
Shocking, was also how veteran trade unionist Palitha Athukorala, who wears many hats in the trade union movement, described the development.
“Trade union leaders, including those from politically-affiliated government unions, are planning to raise this issue at the next meeting of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) and protest over its downgraded status,” he said, when I asked about the issue. Sri Lanka has had some fine Labour Ministers over the years like T.B. Illangaratne, M.H. Mohamed, C.P.J. Seneviratne, etc. Even former Presidents D.B. Wijetunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa once served as Labour Ministers.
For the record, A.E. Gunasinghe was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party, Sri Lanka’s first labour movement, at a time when there were only plantation unions in the country. According to records, the first Labour Day was held in 1927 under his leadership.
The importance of labour and trade union relations was also recognised by employers resulting in the formation of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC), a union or body representing employers in the country. The EFC last year marked its 90th anniversary since being formed during British colonial rule.
This is the first time that labour has been left out as a full Cabinet subject. In the recent reshuffle, five non-Cabinet ministers have been appointed to the subject ministries of Economic Reform and Public Distribution, Digital Infrastructure and Information Technology, Science, Technology and Research, Labour and Trade Union Relations and Special Area Development.
So, what is the role of the non-Cabinet labour minister? He can attend Cabinet meetings only if there is a subject being discussed pertaining to labour or a Cabinet paper has been submitted on labour or trade union issues. Cabinet papers prepared by a non-Cabinet minister have to be submitted to the Cabinet through the President, on the former’s behalf.
In such a case, decision-making becomes an issue particularly when urgent decisions have to be taken over a knotty labour issue or trade union problem.
Finally, I echo the words of H.R. Perera who said the composition of the Cabinet subjects is akin to playing the children’s game ‘Tak tik tuk’ by a ‘koheda yanne malle pol’ administration. It’s still not too late to bring labour back to Cabinet status, even given to another Minister if there was a problem with Gamage handling this subject. However, in doing so, as vividly seen in recent times, this should not create other problems by removing another important Cabinet subject to be replaced by labour.