PROPOSED BY TRADE UNIONS IN ORDER FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA TO DEMONSTRATE ITS POLITICAL WILL TOWARDS COMPLYING WITH PRE REQUISITES OF THE EU GSP+ REGIME
1. Rescind the proclamation of the emergency law and establish an atmosphere conducive to the exercise of fundamental civil liberties.1
2. COVID health guidelines shall not be abused to stifle the right to freedom of expression and the right to peaceful and non-violent means of public protests which are preconditions of the right to freedom of association guaranteed by ILO Convention No.87 and Article 22 of the ICCPR.
3. Stop the deployment of the police and its criminal investigation units to harass, threaten, intimidate, subject to surveillance and discourage trade union and civil society activists from exercising the right to expression and the right to peaceful and non-violent means of public protests.
4. End all forms of judicial harassment against trade union and civil society activists engaged in exercising the right to expression and the right to peaceful and non violent means of public protests i.e arrests, detentions, frivolous prosecutions, etc…2
5. Adopt specific laws in consultation with worker stakeholders to sufficiently protect public and private sector trade union activists against acts of anti-union discrimination to enable the exercise of rights embodied in ILO Conventions No.87 and No.98 (Freedom of association and Collective bargaining).
6. Introduce a transparent multi-stakeholder “monitoring and engagement mechanism” (inclusive of worker stakeholders) under the observance and/or supervision of the local EU Delegation Office, to foster compliance with Core Conventions of the ILO and to take constructive steps to provide for the prompt engagement and implementation of appropriate remedial measures required to improve the “deteriorating labour rights’ situation” in the country, referred to in paragraph 15 of the Resolution dated 10th June 2021, of the European Parliament, concerning Sri Lanka.
-End
30.09.2021
1 Rule by Emergency supersedes all other statutes other than the Constitution and thus places fairness and the rights of citizens at stake. There is no justification for its continuation as commodity price controls introduced under it now stands lifted.
2 The prevalence of judicial harassment in Sri Lanka was recognised by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in her opening statement on Sri Lanka at the 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 13.09.2021.
Presented by,
1. Mr. Anton Marcus
Joint Secretary – Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union 2. Mr. Leslie Devendra
General Secretary – Sri Lanka Nidhas Sewaka Sangamaya
3. Mr. Palitha Atukorale
President – National Union of Seafarers
4. Mr. Maxwell Sylvester Jayakody
General Secretary – Ceylon Mercantile Industrial & General Workers Union 5. Ms. Swasthika Arulingam
Deputy General Secretary – Commercial & Industrial Workers Union 6. Mr. Joseph Stalin
President – Ceylon Teachers Union
7. Mr. Channa Dissanayake
President – Ceylon Bank Employees union
8. Mr. Robert Francis
General Secretary – The Ceylon Estate Staff’s Union
