EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN TRADE UNION AND ITS IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF
SRI LANKA
EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN TRADE UNION AND ITS IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SRI LANKA
Employee participation at workplace level helps to create better
labour-management communication, prevents and absorbs disputes and helps to
find solutions for both work and production-related issues. On the other hand
various employee participation practices can play a vital role to promote
collective bargaining and sound industrial relations.
The process of employee
participation in the workplace has traditionally taken place in Sri Lanka
through the formation of trade unions. In Sri Lanka, trade unions have been
linked with the struggle for independence. In order to bargain with the
employer on behalf of its members or to be recognised for bargaining purposes,
Sri Lankan legislation requires that a trade union must be registered as such
with the relevant authority (Ranaraja, 2013) .
According to International Labour Organisation
(2019), there are 2,074 registered trade unions in Sri Lanka, of which 54.5%
are in the public sector, 27.5%in public corporations and 18 % in the private
sector. 9.5% of the total workforce is covered by the trade
unions of Sri Lanka.
Is there a right to strike?
The Sri Lankan law does not explicitly recognise a right
to strike, as in the case of the fundamental right to freedom of association,
which also includes the right to join a trade union of choice. These
fundamental rights do not at any point state that it includes the right to
strike.
However, the Trade Unions Ordinance defines as to what
strike action involves and therefore, in the context of the Sri Lankan labour
law, strike action can be regarded as a legitimate trade union activity, except
in situations where it is restricted by law (Mudalige, 2016).
For the past few months, Sri Lanka has been
repeatedly hit by trade union strikes and street protests. There are more
labour-intensive industries than capital-intensive industries in Sri Lanka.
Therefore the labour is one of the key factors that drive economic growth and
the workforce of the country is highly affected by these strikes.
These kinds of trade union actions and street
protests bring on the tremendous economic cost that directly and indirectly
delays the economic growth of the country. When people are frequently on the
streets, they waste their as well as others’ time which could have been used
for the development and betterment of the country.
Eg: During the recent railway strike, the number
of people badly affected and found it difficult to continue their day-to-day
activities due to trade union action.
Today, the country needs foreign direct investment
to boost the economy. When the labour force quality is at stake, they will not
invest in labour-intensive industries and the economic image will be destroyed.
However, it is not fair to note that the employees
should refrain from taking trade union actions. If these trade unions can
reduce the frequency of strikes, provide early warning signals before the
strike, be genuine with the objectives instead of getting politically
motivated, the negative impact will be mitigated to achieve economic
development.
References
International Labour Organization, 2019. https://www.ilo.org.
[Online] Available at: https://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
[Accessed 24 September 2019].
Mudalige,
N.K.K., 2016. Daily news E - paper. [Online] The Associated Newspapers
of Ceylon Ltd. Available at: http://www.dailynews.lk/2016/08/22/features/91046
[Accessed 24 September 2019].
Ranaraja, S.,
2013. Emerging trends in employee participation in Sri Lanka. International
Labour Office, Geneva, pp.12-15.
Collective bargaining between various parties is challenging and excellent explanation about trade union activity impact on our economy with current examples. As you mentioned need to avoid political motivation in trade union activities, also we need good negotiable leaders in both sides. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteEven though we can’t stop Political intermediation ,minimize their involvement will mitigate the bad impact .Thanks Jinendran for your comments
DeleteInteresting article , nicely explained , thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article and nicely explain. thanks share your knowledge in this blog. good luck.
ReplyDeleteIn Sri Lankan context, almost all trade unions are politically motivated where they penalize general public in an unethical way such as always going for strikes. There are plenty of other options they could consider before strikes which is the last option. Nice article.
ReplyDeleteSince you have discussed the employee relations in Sri Lankan context, labour union politics play a significant role in those strikes which impact on economic development. The reason behind employee union politics is influencing power and mobilizing more employees in the strikes to gain success.
ReplyDeleteIn Sri lankan context Trade union action is jerking and it is not reflected true demanding on expectations. Nicely described. Thanks for sharing .
ReplyDeleteIn Sri Lankan context the unions step up to the extreme level first where they might discuss things after.
ReplyDeleteGood article Nethra, we can experience the current union issues in the SriLanka. Union should work towards the benefit of the employees of the organization and to the benefit of the organization. But currently Union has forgotten the basic needs of the union. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThe strikes taken by the unions can effect in both and good ways. In Sri Lanka some of the strikes affects badly on the general public as well and we experience it very well.
ReplyDelete