A female leader of a trade union federation who was removed from the National Labor Advisory Council by the Ranil Wickremesinghe government has been appointed by the new government to a high-level advisory council, and that decision has been challenged within the trade union federation.
Lalitha Ranjani Dedduwa Kumara, the chief organizer of the Textile Garment and Clothing Workers Union (TGCWU), which is affiliated with the United Workers’ Federation, and Chamila Thushari of the Dabindu Collective Sri Lanka, affiliated to the ruling National People’s Power, have also been appointed as new labour representatives to the National Labour Advisory Council.
The Labour Minister makes these appointments. The stated purpose of this tripartite advisory council is to provide national-level advice and cooperation to the government, employers and employees as per social and labour policies as well as international labour practices.
The first female labour representative congratulated the two new women appointed to the National Labour Advisory Council, which has a nearly twenty-five-year history. She also expressed her opposition to the removal of the United Federation of Labour (ULF) from the National Labour Advisory Council this time, announcing her intention to take legal action.
“On what basis was the ULF, which is led by women and has more female representation than the female members of the two above trade unions, excluded from the National Labour Advisory Council,” United Federation of Labour leader Swasthika Arulingam asked on social media.
“I will wait until the 15th and then will take legal action. Not only this will affect the credibility of the NPP, but it will also permanently break the women-led trade union solidarity built with my participation.”
This is the second time that a woman has been appointed to the National Labour Consultative Council after the appointment of lawyer Swasthika Arulingam, representing the United Federation of Labour, to the council on 13 July 2021.
In 2023, the Minister of Labour, Manusha Nanayakkara, removed four major trade unions from the National Labour Consultative Council, stating they did not meet the required membership.
Free Trade Zone Workers and General Services Union, the Ceylon Mercantile and General Workers Union, the United Federation of Labour, and the Ceylon Estate Staff Union were removed as a result.
Fifty-five organisations and 150 activists who issued a statement against the removal vehemently accused the minister of taking the ‘unusual’ decision to remove the only female representative from the council.
“When Manusha Nanayakkara removed the union from the National Workers’ Consultative Council, several women and men who are currently sitting with the NPP, including MP Lakmali Hemachandra, signed the letter supporting the union’s entry into the Consultative Council. That position they took back then should not be changed just because they are in power,” Swasthika Arulingam said on Facebook.
MP Attorney Lakmali Hemachandra is the President of the Textile Garment and Clothing Workers Union.
In this year’s election of representatives to the National Workers’ Council, the representative of the Textile Garment and Clothing Workers Union has been elected. This is one of the eight trade unions under the United Federation of Labour, chaired by attorney Arulingam.
That representative is also a vice president of the United Federation of Labour.
The trade union leaders allege that the new government, after coming to power, arbitrarily appointed new representatives to the National Labour Consultative Council without a public call in December 2024. They say that the Chairman of the National Labour Consultative Council, Labour Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando, has not given any reasons for the appointments.
“The ‘most representative’ organisations and institutions from the organisations and institutions of employers and employees in various sectors of the economy will be selected by the Minister for the representation in the National Labour Consultative Council,” the official website of the National Labour Consultative Council announced.
As in the past, the new government has taken steps to remove the Ceylon Mercantile and General Workers Union (CMU) from the National Labour Consultative Council.
The Free Trade Zone Workers and General Services Union, the leading union representing workers in the free trade zones, successfully challenged its removal from the National Labour Consultative Council and was reinstated in it.
(The Leader)
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