The entirely predictable parade of public sector trade unions launching protests in the form of go slows, work to rules, sick notes, and whatnot is now well underway. Such trade union action has now become well entrenched as pre-election phenomena; we the citizens watch, in irritation, the same old cycle of strikes being greeted by stern grandstanding eventually followed by meek capitulation, that costs the taxpayer aplenty.
By name, we are a democratic socialist republic – which makes us a nation where citizens hold ultimate power, have ownership of the means of production, and participate in government by electing our own representatives. There’s all that power vested in the average adult Sri Lankan and yet, here we are stranded on the streets, rearranging our lives because our morning train just became a no-show, waiting for weeks for our doctors to see us, having to forgo that foreign trip because there’s no one to issue us that urgent passport…doesn’t feel very democratic, socialist, or republican, does it?
Unionisation is a fundamental right enshrined in our Constitution. While the right to unionise and the right to collective bargaining are great virtues of our labour market, it is the political manipulations and manoeuvrings of many unions that result in the bad reputation trade unions have. The membership of Sri Lanka’s 2,000-plus registered trade unions covers almost 10% of the entire workforce. Only less than a fifth of those unions operate in the private sector, where collective agreements are arrived at in a mostly well-managed manner to ensure that the potential for productivity losses is minimised.
The public, and not the powerful politician, is at the receiving end of what it sees as “insensitive and opportunistic” trade union action, but it is only ahead of an election that the politician can be made to feel the impact of the public’s wrath. So it’s only natural that unions believe the timing increases their bargaining power, and at the least, wins them the ear of politicians. The ethics and morality of striking workers aside, we are back to that critical need to extricate mainstream politics from the administration of public affairs. It’s what this column has called for many a time in the past – the clear demarcation of an administrative service that is apolitical and infused with professionals. The stuff of dreams, of course.
The economic impact of weeks of trade union action in multiple sectors is colossal and criminal; it is a cost that our struggling economy can ill afford. It’s doubtful that any scientific calculation, or even non-scientific guess, has been made to gauge the actual cost of the hours of work lost, the hours spent on blocked streets, the hours spent by stranded workers looking for alternative means of conveyance to their workplaces…the list goes on.
It’s ironic that a largely inefficient and costly public sector chooses to cripple day-to-day functioning by becoming even less efficient and productive. The public sector by design was meant to be a professional administrative service; years of political meddling in appointments and management have resulted in what we have today – a low-skilled, uninspired, low-paid set of workers, majority of whom lack the passion and ambition to do great things. The better skilled go-getters are instead thriving in the private sector where they, at least, enjoy greater freedom and a fairer system of pay for performance.
At the time of going to press, the Ministry of Finance had just committed to raising the monthly wages of public servants by a minimum of Rs. 3,000 and a maximum of Rs. 24, 000 from January 2020. So for now, it looks like the trade unions won. The cost to the taxpayer? Rs. 120 billion more per year.
The maddening thing of all is the absurd predictability of this chaotic circus…something must be done.
Each week, The Sunday Morning Business focuses its headlights on the private sector of Sri Lanka as the engine of growth and the torchbearers of our economic progress. Through our editorial, we seek to applaud and celebrate our corporate heroes and shed light on the multiple challenges that stand in their way.
By name, we are a democratic socialist republic – which makes us a nation where citizens hold ultimate power, have ownership of the means of production, and participate in government by electing our own representatives. There’s all that power vested in the average adult Sri Lankan and yet, here we are stranded on the streets, rearranging our lives because our morning train just became a no-show, waiting for weeks for our doctors to see us, having to forgo that foreign trip because there’s no one to issue us that urgent passport…doesn’t feel very democratic, socialist, or republican, does it?
Unionisation is a fundamental right enshrined in our Constitution. While the right to unionise and the right to collective bargaining are great virtues of our labour market, it is the political manipulations and manoeuvrings of many unions that result in the bad reputation trade unions have. The membership of Sri Lanka’s 2,000-plus registered trade unions covers almost 10% of the entire workforce. Only less than a fifth of those unions operate in the private sector, where collective agreements are arrived at in a mostly well-managed manner to ensure that the potential for productivity losses is minimised.
The public, and not the powerful politician, is at the receiving end of what it sees as “insensitive and opportunistic” trade union action, but it is only ahead of an election that the politician can be made to feel the impact of the public’s wrath. So it’s only natural that unions believe the timing increases their bargaining power, and at the least, wins them the ear of politicians. The ethics and morality of striking workers aside, we are back to that critical need to extricate mainstream politics from the administration of public affairs. It’s what this column has called for many a time in the past – the clear demarcation of an administrative service that is apolitical and infused with professionals. The stuff of dreams, of course.
The economic impact of weeks of trade union action in multiple sectors is colossal and criminal; it is a cost that our struggling economy can ill afford. It’s doubtful that any scientific calculation, or even non-scientific guess, has been made to gauge the actual cost of the hours of work lost, the hours spent on blocked streets, the hours spent by stranded workers looking for alternative means of conveyance to their workplaces…the list goes on.
It’s ironic that a largely inefficient and costly public sector chooses to cripple day-to-day functioning by becoming even less efficient and productive. The public sector by design was meant to be a professional administrative service; years of political meddling in appointments and management have resulted in what we have today – a low-skilled, uninspired, low-paid set of workers, majority of whom lack the passion and ambition to do great things. The better skilled go-getters are instead thriving in the private sector where they, at least, enjoy greater freedom and a fairer system of pay for performance.
At the time of going to press, the Ministry of Finance had just committed to raising the monthly wages of public servants by a minimum of Rs. 3,000 and a maximum of Rs. 24, 000 from January 2020. So for now, it looks like the trade unions won. The cost to the taxpayer? Rs. 120 billion more per year.
The maddening thing of all is the absurd predictability of this chaotic circus…something must be done.
Each week, The Sunday Morning Business focuses its headlights on the private sector of Sri Lanka as the engine of growth and the torchbearers of our economic progress. Through our editorial, we seek to applaud and celebrate our corporate heroes and shed light on the multiple challenges that stand in their way.