Export Development and International Trade Minister Prof G. L. Peiris has instructed the Attorney General’s Department to look into a garment factory linked labour dispute that has the potential to turn sour at a time when much is being done to retain an extension of GSP+.
"Prof Peiris instructed me to look into this matter and we are in the process of reviewing this matter," the Attorney General, C. R. de Silva, told the Island Financial Review.
Meanwhile the Board of Investment, based on earlier verbal communications with the AG’s department, is waiting for written conformation from the Attorney General’s Department that 37 apparel workers belonging to GP Garments Pvt. Ltd. will not be indicted under the Prevention of Hostage Taking Act.
It is believed that the 37 garment workers, 33 of whom are women, will be indicted under the above Act for staging a stay-in strike demanding their bonus entitlements in April 2005.
"To charge them under this Act, where punishment is severe, is too harsh. We sought verbal clarification from the AG’s office. They said that workers will not be charged under the Prevention of Hostage Taking Act but under the general laws," an official of the BOI told the Island Financial Review.
Joint Secretary General of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZGSEU), Anton Marcus, said that he had received such an assurance from the BOI.
"However when I checked with the Gampaha High Court, I was told that the workers will be indicted under the Prevention of Hostage Taking Act," Marcus said.
Upon hearing this he had conveyed the news to the BOI.
"There is contradiction between what the AG’s Department told us and the High Court told Mr. Marcus. We are now trying to get a written conformation from the AG," the BOI official said.
The FTZGSEU has links with two labour union affiliated to the European Union and is mulling seeking their support if things go awry.
Earlier in the year, the Industrial Trade Union Confederation (ITC) and the International Textiles, Garments and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLF) of the EU had expressed their willingness to assist their Sri Lankan counterparts in the long drawn battle with the industrialists over labour violations.
But Anton Marcus said they were asked to hold back for the sake of GSP+ because had the alleged labour violations and disputes got too much attention in the EU it could be detrimental for the country’s GSP+ case.
The FTZGSEU alleges that over the years industrialists had been going to extremes of hiring lawyers propagating union busting, who maintain that the law of the country did not recognise the BOI manual on Labour Standards and Industrial Relations and came down hard on unions.
The BOI had adopted this manual when GSP+ scheme first came into effect where lLO conventions had to be implemented (among others) in order to enjoy the benefits of the European trade concessions.
In May this year, a member of the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFLCIO) was in the island to help labour unions here, particularly in the garment industry, to facilitate better cooperation with employers in a bid to strengthen Sri Lanka’s case for an extension of the GSP+ scheme.
Jeff Vogt, Global Economic Policy Specialist, Legal Department, AFLCIO, met members of government, the Joint Apparel Association Federation of Sri Lanka and officials of labour unions during his visit.
"I found that there are routine violations of international labour laws in some garment factories. Freedom of association is very important according to ILO labour laws and many workers complained that they could not form unions," Vogt told the Island Financial Review.
Even with GSP+ many garment factories find it difficult to survive with high production costs eating into margins and making Sri Lankan garment’s less and less competitive.
"About 200 garment factories have closed down in the past two years alone," a consultant to the industry, K. C. Vignarajah, said.
Earlier this year the industry, together with the BOI, launched a campaign to attract workers to the industry that had lost its attraction due to bad perceptions.
