Strike-hit James Finlays factories reopens
View(s):Two strike-affected James Finlays factories shut down at Vauxhall Street and Welisara resumed operations on Thursday following a settlement reached between manual workers and the company.
Protesting workers numbering around 141 had initiated strike action since September 26 after 18 workers were alleged to have been unfairly dismissed, Ceylon Federations Trade Union General Secretary D.W. Subasinghe told the Business Times on Wednesday. The workers are part of one of the 14 affiliate unions under the Federation namely the Tea, Rubber and Local Produce Workers Union.
Finlays denies the charge saying the 18 workers were terminated after conducting an independent inquiry.
On Monday the trade union requested the Labour Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne to refer the matter for compulsory arbitration. On Tuesday the company sent letters to the striking workers’ residences to report back to work on October 11.
However, the union had sent a fax to the company on October 11 stating that the workers were scheduled for a meeting with the parent union on that date and as such would report to work on October 12.
Mr. Subasinghe pointed out that since the 18 terminated workers were quality checkers, the factories were now facing a problem of having inadequate staff to fill these vacancies.
Further, the parent trade union will be initiating compulsory arbitration this week to ascertain whether the workers were unfairly dismissed from their jobs.
Finlays Colombo Human Resources Manager Dhanishka Dharmaratne told he Business Times said that their employees had returned to work and the factory had resumed operations since Thursday.
She said that there was a backlog of work which is being cleared right now and added that the company’s clerical staff and staff officers of the quality department would be attending to the work.