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| Sunday, 6 January 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Focus on Sri Lanka's informal sector by T.M.R. Rasseedin, Under the impact of globalisation, the informal sector is expanding at a faster pace, often in different forms, in developing and developed parts of the world. Some 500 million workers in the world are not part of the "formal" economy, but work in the informal sector. This was noted at a seminar and workshop organised jointly by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the National Association for Trade Union Research and Education (NATURE) on the theme 'Organising the UN-organised in the Informal Sector'. The informal sector in Sri Lanka was the focal point of discussion during the two days deliberations at which leaders of Sri Lanka's major trade unions participated. The ILO-commissioned study of Sri Lanka's informal sector was presented by Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, senior Visiting Fellow of the Post-Graduate Institute of Agriculture, Peradeniya. The study points out that the informal economy, though difficult to define, is a widespread phenomenon in Sri Lanka and consists of a very wide range of activities both in the rural areas and in towns and cities. The study reckons that the informal sector of Sri Lanka is likely to be about 40 per cent of the GDP. Myrtle Perera, Senior Researcher at the MARGA Institute placed before the participants information gathered in the survey conducted by her on 55 sample units covering four key sectors in Sri Lanka's informal economy (five large organisations, 40 small and medium enterprises, five control groups and five trade unions). The survey reveals salient features observed in the units covered in such aspects as the structure and networks in place, the reasons for the informal sector's inability to associate, the constraints, the strategies adopted to obtain needs, the advantages and disadvantages of association and the role of trade unions and the benefits that will accrue by associating with organised workers. Claudia Conjearts, Director, ILO Colombo Office in her presentations stressed on the ILO's emphasis on decent work. She elaborated on the components of decent work as employment opportunities, fair and equal treatment in employment, decent remuneration, fair conditions of work, safe work environment, social protection and employment, protection in case of unemployment, employment and training opportunities, participation and motivation and voice and collective participation. Ms. Conjearts added that the exact combination and the weightage to be given to each of the 10 dimensions will depend on circumstances particular to a country, region and an enterprise. She requested the trade unions to play a proactive role by adopting a multi-dimensional approach in their intervention to improve the conditions of those engaged in the informal sector. The focus of the trade union participants was on the growing informal sector in Sri Lanka and the challenges it poses to the trade union movement in the country. It was noted that in today's globalising economy, there is more reverse graduation into the informal sector from the formal sector than the other way round. Within this a significant proportion of the workforce is being pushed into insecure, unsafe, unprotected, low quality, low paying, labour intensive, un-organised sector where atypical, non-formal, non-standard employment practices dominate. This has resulted in greater recourse to subcontracting and casual work arrangements accentuating the problem of organising workers. The trade union participants assessed the role of the informal sector in the development process of the country as a provider of jobs and raised the key issues in social security and social protection. The need to undertake awareness creating campaigns and motivating those engaged in the informal sector to set up organisations that would better serve their interests were also stressed upon. At the conclusion of the workshop, a steering committee was set up to work out approaches and strategies for trade union intervention in the informal sector. The steering committee comprises Leslie Devendra, Palitha Atukorale, D.W. Subasinghe, Linus Jayatilleke, C.W.W. Ratnayake and Joseph Arulpragasam. |
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