Arresting workers grievances

Face 2 Face by Jayantha Sri Nissanka

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Minister of Labour Athauda Seneviratne plans to fix the minimum salary of private sector workers to Rs. 5,000 and JVP MP K. D. Lal Kantha urged that the Minister should bring a Bill to Parliament to fix the minimum wage to Rs. 12,500.

Q: Again the labour unrest is heating up in the country. The JVP is planning for a general strike. Is there any political motive behind this Trade Union action?

Minister: The JVP is trying to fish in troubled waters. They are expecting an election this year and want to be popular among people. This is part of JVP politics. President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave cost of living allowance for Government servants without any request from Trade Unions (TUs). The Government increased public sector minimum salaries to Rs. 11,730. But I agree that still salary anomalies are there in certain sectors like health, railways, etc.

L.K: About 90% TUs except the Jathika Sewaka Sangamaya worked hard to bring the President to power. His Government did something for the public sector employees but nothing for the, private sector employees so far. When we discuss private sector workers pay hike, Ministers and officials accept that it should be increased but workers receive nothing from the 2007 Budget. But the Government increased Ministers, MPs and officials salaries. So 254 unions realised that it is a waste of time and decided to take Trade Union (TU) action on February 2, 2007. But the Government agreed to fill five demands out of six. So far nothing has happened but we will give a little more time.

Q: The JVP is demanding that the Government fix Rs. 12,500 as the minimum salary. Should the Government interfere with salary structures of the private sector because it should be decided by the private sector it self?

Minister: The basic salary of private sector employees was not decided during the last many decades. Private sector itself is different from sector to sector. We are now in the process of fixing the minimum wage to Rs. 5000 from Rs. 3500 negotiating with all stakeholders. Though the basic salary is low, these workers get meals, attendance bonus, transport, etc. So their total package is high. Everybody in the private sector can't pay the same minimum wage.

L.K: There are certain companies which are giving facilities to workers apart from the basic salary. But remember majority business owners can't provide the same. So these workers are exploited like slaves. It is no point of asking the employers to pay a minimum salary unless the Government fix it at Rs. 12,500.

Q: About six million people are engaged in the private sector but half of them draw a salary of Rs. 3,500. So can we expect a person to run his family with Rs. 3,500 today?

Minister: I agree that it is not enough. That is why I am trying to at least increase it to Rs. 5000 with the participation of employers and employees. Private sector employees are highly disorganised. Some businesses can pay higher salaries and others can't. So if we fix a minimum salary of Rs. 12,500, it could negatively affect the workers because business owners would go for retrenching or scrap other facilities. However productivity should increase. If basic salary is increased, some business ventures could stop providing other facilities to workers.

L.K: According to the Government estimate, Rs. 16,784 is required for a family to fulfil basic needs today. But Colombo families require Rs. 25,000. The cost of living index is 6000 points today and if we multiply it with Rs.2, it comes to 12,000. If the Government can fix minimum salary to Rs. 11,730 for public sector, why is the Government keeping private sector employees at a minimum salary of Rs. 3,500. Without giving a legal effect, Government cannot Ad-Hoc increase salaries of the private sector.

Q: Employers complain about stringent labour laws in the country. Will the investors be demoralised if the Government introduces a minimum wage Bill?

Minister: I am planning to introduce a Bill this year amending various loopholes in the existing Act. If employers are treating the workers well, we don't want laws. Despite the existing laws, they ill treat workers and exploit them. They only consider profit and ignore workers.

L.K: It is the responsibility of the Government as well as the employers to fix a minimum salary and basic facilities to the workers. They can't work like slaves. If the workers get minimum facilities, the production could increase which will benefit the investors.

Q: Though there are six million people in the private sector, only 2.5 million enjoy the EPF and ETF benefits. What action will the Ministry of Labour take to provide this facility to others?

Minister: We have to organise the informal sector. We will send our labour officers to each and every venture to check whether workers get EPF and ETF. Dr. N. M. Perera brought a law, according to which every employee, should be paid EPF and ETF.

L.K: It has happened because of the inefficiency of the Labour Ministry. There is no proper mechanism of the Ministry to find out companies which are depriving such benefits to workers. Disorganised workers should be organised to address this problem.

Q: Trade Unions have become violent and take people to ransom for winning their demands. Can't you introduce a new Trade Union culture free from violence and public harassment?

Minister: Yes, we saw how Unions tried to win their demands before the Transport Ministry recently. Responsible union members will not behave like hooligans. That is not the way to win demands.

L.K: I agree that this allegation is there against unions. Some Unions in the public sector conduct wildcat strikes. But responsible unions will not engage in such hostile acts. For instance we were planning a strike on February 2 (It was postponed) and we informed the public about it. Because then they can adjust their work accordingly. We don't have any inclination to harass people. But once Port Unions had to strike to obtain a meeting with former Minister Mangala Samaraweera after six months of requesting for same.

Q: Most of our Trade Unions are highly politicised. Are the JVP Unions demanding Rs. 12,500 minimum wages anticipating a General Election this year?

Minister: Yes, some unions try to take political advantages. But we will not have any election this year. We have a strong Government now. The JVP is trying to be popular among people. That is why they agitate for a higher salary. I will try my best to get a good minimum salary for private sector employees.

L.K: I agree that most of our TUs are backed by political parties. Because, political parties gave the leadership to organise TUs in Sri Lanka. All the TU actions do not have political motives. But when the UNP Government introduced the Compensation Formula, we did our best to stop it and chase the UNP Government home in 2002.

Q: The recent Plantation strike loss was over Rs. 3 billions and the go slow and work stoppage strike in Colombo Port was about Rs. 4 billion. Why are Trade Unions not concerned about the economic cost of their action which could have long-term impact on the country's economy?

Minister: You are perfectly correct. We have organised a programme with 100 factories to improve productivity with the co-operation of workers and employers. Political rivalry in the estate sector delayed the strike as CWC and UPF could not come to an agreement for their political interest. Old TUs are disciplined and new ones are creating trouble to make a name.

L.K: This could have been avoided if there was a good relationship between employers and employees. Some employers do not like TUs at all and some TUs always try to fight against managements. It has to be stopped. If there were positive responses from Minister Samaraweera and Plantation companies, we could have avoided the economic loss from both of these two strikes. Actually we requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to give us targets in Ministries. Then he advised all the Ministers to do so. But none of the Ministers gave us such targets. Because they don't like to work with TUs as they cannot misuse public properties and involve in corruption.

Q: TUs are demanding their rights always but we have the lowest productivity in the world. How can we rectify this problem?

Minister: This is an inherent problem in Sri Lanka. Absenteeism is 30 percent in ventures. So how can we increase productivity? Once one Korean Ambassador told me that Sri Lanka is a beautiful country but not easy to develop with lazy people. But when our people go abroad they work hard because they have to work in line with others. So only way to improve productivity is to allocate targets for workers. If productivity increases salaries also can be increased.

L.K: When I was a Minister I asked my Secretary to delegate some work for 46 graduate trainees. After one week when I inquired, trainees told me that they have not been given any task. Then I had to do it. Our officials are scared to take initiative for any work. Therefore, we have to correct this from top to bottom.

Q: Employers are always grumbling about too many holidays in Sri Lanka. Is there any impact on the productivity?

Minister: The only solution is to increase the productivity. But still some of our workers want more holidays. Once I visited the Free Trade Zone and workers requested me to grant them more holidays. But I told them it is impossible and promised that I will try to increase their salaries.

L.K: Eight working hours rule was introduced in 1800. It is an old theory. According to the technology today, workers can finish their work in four hours. That is why Government servants are free, half of the day. They do their own work after completing their tasks. This is a waste of public resources. Now we have to introduce a system to pay for the out put but not for number of hours.