Sri Lanka trade union makes headway in fight for wage increase
11 March 2010
After much lobbying and campaigning, War on Want partner the Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union (FTZ&GSEU) has won government support for a 40% salary increase in free trade zones.
The FTZ&GSEU, a leading campaigner for workers' rights in Sri Lanka's free trade zones (FTZs), mobilised thousands of workers to push for private sector wages to be increased to levels in line with those in the public sector.
In recent years the wages of Sri Lanka's 250,000 private sector workers have fallen well behind their public sector counterparts. Currently the minimum wage for the private sector is RS 6,700 per month (approximately £37), compared to Rs 11,630 (£65) for the public sector. The FTZ&GSEU has spearheaded a campaign targeting the Sri Lankan Board of Investment (BOI), the government body responsible for carrying out wage increases in the private sector. They are demanding that salaries in the private sector be made equal to public sector wages, with no exception for FTZs workers. Given Sri Lanka's rapidly increasing inflation rates, the growing gap between public and private sector wages is a particular cause for concern.
The FTZ&GSEU's campaign has included educating FTZ workers on the importance of demanding a fair wage increase. In early February 20,000 FTZ workers signed a letter rejecting the meagre Rs 500 (approximately £3) wage increase offered to them by factory owners and calling on the BOI to meet their call for a salary increase that at a minimum equals rates in the public sector. Workers also protested by arriving at work dressed only in white, generating widespread media attention across the country.
As a result of their efforts the FTZ&GSEU was granted a meeting with the Chairman of the BOI at which trade union leaders voiced the concerns of workers and pushed for a fair increase in wages. Earlier this month the Sri Lankan Ministry of Labour publically recommended increasing the private sector minimum wage by Rs 2,500 (approximately £14) and has ordered wage boards across the country to convene. These wage boards, which are made up of factory owners, worker representatives and government officials, will now enter into negotiations over salary increases.
Though the struggle for a fair wage will undoubtedly continue, the tireless campaigning of FTZ&GSEU has helped workers win a crucial first victory in a long process.
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