Labour laws should keep abreast of work-place developments

The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Assistant Director General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Yoshiteru Uramoto, visited Sri Lanka recently, on the invitation of the Ministry of Labour and Labour Relations.

During his visit Uramoto met the Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, and discussed ILO’s support for Sri Lanka in a number of areas, including labour law, human resources development, industrial relations and ILO projects in the north.

Uramoto held discussions with the Minister of Labour and Labour Relations, Gamini Lokuge, covering international labour standards and labour laws, social security issues including the setting up of a social protection floor, and improving the wage fixing mechanism.

He offered further support for the implementation of Sri Lanka’s Decent Work Country Program.

Uramoto also had discussions with Labour and Labour Relations Ministry Secretary, W.J.L.U Wijayaweera and Secretary of the Senior Ministers’ Secretariat, Mahinda Madihahewa.

Wijayaweera said the LEED project not only contributed to reviving livelihoods and cooperatives in the north but also helped to build partnerships between north and south Sri Lanka by strengthening market links.

He briefed Uramoto on the progress made towards creating a social protection floor, including reviews of social protection schemes and the drafting of the national occupational safety and health policy.

Madihahewa thanked Uramoto for ILO’s assistance to develop and implement the national human resource and employment policy.

Uramoto was also briefed on the Government’s progress towards ratification of Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and eliminating child labour.

The Government, with ILO assistance, has declared that the Ratnapura district will be a Child Labour Free Zone by 2016. There are also plans to extend this to the Kegalle and Ampara districts.

- ILO News