SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2347All workers, other than civil servants and workers in ‘‘essential’’ services, havethe right to strike. By law workers also may lodge complaints with the Commissionerof Labor, a labor tribunal or the Supreme Court to protect their rights. However,in May the Government issued new emergency regulations in response to militaryevents in the north, which prohibited strikes as part of placing the country ona ‘‘war footing.’’ Nonetheless, plantation workers and railway workers participatedin strikes. The Government has periodically controlled strikes by declaring some industriesessential under the ER. Despite this restriction, the Government in 1998permitted a 5-week postal strike and a strike by plantation workers. The Presidentretains the power to designate any industry as an essential service. The Presidentattempted to break a doctors’ strike in June 1999 by declaring their services essential.The doctors defied the order, and after a standoff which lasted a week, the Governmentagreed to consider their grievances. The International Labor Organization(ILO) has pointed out to the Government that essential services should be limitedto services where an interruption would endanger the life, personal safety, or healthof the population.Civil servants collectively may submit labor grievances to the Public Service Commissionbut have no legal grounds to strike. Nonetheless, government workers inthe transportation, medical, educational, power generation, financial, and port sectorshave staged brief strikes and other work actions in recent years. There wereover 100 public sector strikes during the year.The law prohibits retribution against strikers in nonessential sectors. Employersmay dismiss workers only for disciplinary reasons, mainly misconduct. Incompetenceor low productivity are not grounds for dismissal. Dismissed employees havea right to appeal their termination before a labor tribunal.Unions may affiliate with international bodies, and some have done so. The CeylonWorkers Congress, composed exclusively of Tamil plantation workers, is the onlytrade union affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions(ICFTU), although a new trade union in the Biyagama export processing zone is affiliatedwith the Youth Forum of the ICFTU. No national trade union center existsto centralize or facilitate contact with international groups.b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.—The law provides for the rightto collective bargaining, and it is practiced widely. Large firms may have employeesin as many as 60 different unions. In enterprises without unions, including thosein the export processing zones (EPZ’s), worker councils—composed of employees, employersand often a public sector representative—generally provide the forums forlabor and management negotiation. The councils do not have the power to negotiatebinding contracts, and they have been criticized as ineffective by labor advocates.In December 1999, Parliament passed an amendment to the Industrial DisputesAct to require employers to recognize trade unions and the right to collective bargaining.The law prohibits antiunion discrimination. Employers found guilty of suchdiscrimination must reinstate workers fired for union activities but may transferthem to different locations.There are approximately 110,000 workers employed in the export processing zones(EPZ’s), a large percentage of them women. Under the law, workers in the EPZ’shave the same rights to join unions as other workers. However, few unions haveformed in the EPZ’s, largely because of severe restrictions on access by union organizersto the zones. While the unionization rate in the rest of the country is approximately25 percent, the rate within the EPZ’s is only 10 percent. Labor representativesallege that the Government’s Board of Investment (BOI), which manages theEPZ’s, including setting wages and working conditions in the EPZ’s, has discouragedunion activity. Work councils in the EPZ’s are chaired by the BOI and only havethe power to make recommendations. Labor representatives also allege that theLabor Commissioner, under BOI pressure, has failed to prosecute employers whorefuse to recognize or enter into collective bargaining with trade unions. While employersin the EPZ’s offer higher wages and better working conditions generallythan employers elsewhere, workers face other concerns, such as security, expensivebut low quality boarding houses, and sexual harassment. In most instances, wageboards establish minimum wages and conditions of employment, except in theEPZ’s, where wages and work conditions are set by the BOI.c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.—Forced or compulsory labor is prohibitedby provisions of the 1844 Abolition of Slavery Act; however, there were reportsof its use. There are reports of women being trafficked to the country for thepurpose of prostitution (see Section 6.f.). The act does not prohibit forced or bondedlabor by children specifically, but government officials interpret it as applying topersons of all ages. In the past there were credible reports that some rural childrenwere employed in debt bondage as domestic servants in urban households; some ofthese children reportedly had been abused (see Section 5); however, no cases wereVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00191 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.036 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1