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‘Female-headed TUs are sidelined by male TU leaders’

16 Aug 2021

  • First female rep of SL’s Nat. Labour Advisory Council AAL Swasthika Arulingam speaks
BY Samantha Rajapaksa The date of 13 July 2021 was a very special day in Sri Lankan history with regard to the labour relations. For the first time in Sri Lankan history, a female member participated in the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) meeting after being nominated by the United Federation of Labour (UFL).  She is Attorney-at-Law (AAL) Swasthika Arulingam. Now, she has been appointed as the Commercial and Industrial Workers Union’s Deputy General Secretary, which is an affiliate Union of the UFL. She speaks here about her new experience. Following are excerpts of the interview: You attended your first NLAC meeting on 13 July 2021, and you were the first female comrade nominated to the NLAC. How do you feel about your experience at this meeting? One of the first things that I noticed was that on both the employers side as well as the trade unions side, there was no female representation. There were around five females in the entire meeting, excluding me. I was told that they were representing the Labour Department, the Board of Investment, etc. Therefore, there is a clear under-representation of female workers in the NLAC. According to the Census and Statistics Department, as of the first quarter of 2020, there were an equal number of females and males employed in the industry and service sector. Yet, I am the only female member of the NLAC. How does one female raise the concerns of almost 50% of the active workforce? The NLAC should include female trade union leaders. The Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, as the NLAC Convener, should take steps to increase female representation in the NLAC after discussions with the trade unions. Do you think that you can use this forum to raise issues relating to female workers and how do you plan to do this? I want to use this forum to raise the issues of all workers.  Since my appointment, several trade unions, including female-headed trade unions who are not members of the NLAC, have approached me and spoken to me about several issues which have not been raised at the NLAC because they felt that they did not have access.   I am hoping that the trade union representatives will collectively address the issues which I will be bringing to the NLAC. Do you think that females can take the leadership of the trade union movement?  Females should have always led trade union movements. The fact that the majority of the trade unions are headed by males only reflects the inherent sexism inside trade unions and the lack of commitment to bring in women into leading positions within them. There are a few trade unions headed by females. However, I have myself experienced how these unions are sidelined by male trade union leaders. What are the obstacles for females to develop as trade union leaders? A major obstacle is male trade union leaders who see females as secondary to them, and act as a barrier, not allowing females to occupy these spaces. I have experienced how certain male trade union leaders actively prevent females from even having access to representative spaces. This is a larger issue for the whole of Sri Lanka, where, as a country, females face sexism and misogyny on a day to day basis. Sexual harassment is the norm in work places with little opportunity for females to actively combat the violence done to them. Trade union spaces should have functioned as a space to counter sexism and hold employers accountable for workplace harassment. However, to date, trade unions have been comfortable accepting and even internalising the sexism that exists in society and in work places. How can trade unions represent workers’ concerns and struggle against workers oppression when the oppression of females is practiced inside trade union ranks? Why should females lead trade unions? Can’t males raise the matters concerning female workers? If we live in a society where sexism doesn’t exist, then males can raise the concerns of females. Sexism, the oppression of females, and violence against females are norms in this country. Males directly participate in oppressing females or remain silent and become passive aiders of female oppression. Therefore, as our society stands today, male trade union leaders cannot represent the concerns of female workers adequately. As a trade union leader, what are your future expectations and plans? We must encourage younger workers to organise and unionise. Unions are the only legally recognised protection for workers. Unions are a legally recognised body in the eyes of the law which allow workers to sit equally with the employer, and obtain wages and social security for what is rightfully theirs. If we want to counter work place violations, if females are to be protected from sexual harassment at the work place, if we want to reduce income inequality, and we want to prevent child labour, then the State has to create workspaces which protect workers from harassment and ensure that the wealth generated is equitably distributed among the workers who generate it. Currently, the only model that is legally recognised, which has the power to equalise the inequality which exists between the employer and employee in the workplace, is a union. However, trade union movements can only be truly strengthened if females and males working in industries, factories, and workplaces take up leadership. It is only they who know the actual day-to-day struggles of the workers. Hence, it is extremely important that we promote female workers to come to leadership positions.  There is a popular view that young workers do not want to unionise. If this is true, how are you going to face this challenge? There is a misconception that young workers do not want to unionise. This myth is also actively spread by companies who want to make unions look unpopular and outdated. I have been speaking to young workers since 2012. I can tell you with absolute certainty that young workers want to unionise. There is an urge to unionise. However, companies and the State have worked together to discourage unions.   It is no surprise that companies practice retaliation against workers who join unions. The case of Smart Shirts Lanka Ltd. and the union busting which took place there is one such case. However, in a recent case, I was told that an officer in the Labour Department had told the workers that the employers are angry with the complainants because they have tried to unionise. The Labour Department is entrusted with actively probing cases of union busting. If this is the attitude that the Labour Department is taking towards workers who are members of unions, then where do unionised workers reach for protection when they face retaliation from companies? Further, when workers are unfairly terminated for union activities, litigation takes a very long time. Workers can’t wait for five to 10 years for litigation to finish for them to get back their jobs. There has to be changes in the laws – on compelling factories to recognise unions once the relevant legally recognised quota of union members is met; on the reduction of the quota of workers needed for a company to recognise a trade union inside the workplace; on stronger protection for workers who unionise; on allowing unions representing manpower workers to bargain with factories for wages, social security, working hours, and working conditions; and on the reinstatement of workers, pending appeal, if the Labour Department or the Labour Tribunal holds that the worker has been dismissed for union activities. (The interviewer is part of the Wame Handa [Left Voice] organisation)


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