Country of Origin Information Report
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Return to Contents Go to list of sources 34. Employment rights 34.01 The US State Department (USSD), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009, Sri Lanka, 11 March 2010 (USSD 2009) observed that: “The law allowed workers to form and join unions of their choice without previous authorization with the exception of members of the armed forces and police officers, who are not entitled to unionize. Seven workers could form a union, adopt a charter, elect leaders, and publicize their views. To compel an employer to recognize a union required forty percent of the staff. In practice such rights were resisted by the management of individual factories and administrative delays by the government in registering unions. Approximately 20 percent of the seven million-person workforce nationwide and more than 70 percent of the plantation workforce was unionized. In total there were more than one million union members. Approximately 11 percent of the nonagricultural workforce in the private sector was unionized. Unions represented most workers in large private firms, but workers in small scale agriculture and small businesses usually did not belong to unions. Public sector employees were unionized at very high rates.” [2b] (Section 7a) 34.02 The same report added that “Most large unions were affiliated with political parties and played a prominent role in the political process, although some major unions in the public sector were politically independent. The Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower was authorized by law to cancel the registration of any union that did not submit an annual report, the only grounds for the cancellation of registration.” [2b] (Section 7a) 34.03 And continued: “By law all workers, other than police, armed forces, prison service, and those in essential services, had the right to strike, but the government did not enforce this law uniformly. Workers may lodge complaints with the commissioner of labor, a labor tribunal, or the Supreme Court to protect their rights. Strikes were forbidden in areas that were determined by the president to be "any service which is of public utility or is essential for national security or for the preservation of public order or to the life of the community and includes any Department of the Government or branch thereof." On November 15, in the face of threatened strikes, the petroleum corporation, the water board, the Ceylon Electricity Board and the port facilities were all declared to be essential services. “The law prohibited retribution against strikers in nonessential sectors; in practice, however, employees were sometimes fired for striking. Those employees affected under the November 15 essential services ruling returned to work without any major incidents. “During the year [2009] the Supreme Court did not intervene to stop public sector trade unions from striking. The law allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, but the government enforced the law unevenly. By law public sector unions are not allowed to form federations, but the law was not generally enforced. In prior years the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) reported that union officials and organizers were harassed and intimidated with impunity, including arrests, libel, and death threats, but no report was obtained for the current year. Employees of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation were harassed and assaulted by unidentified assailants.” [2b] (Section 7a) 34.04 The USSD report 2009 added that: “The law provides for the right to collective bargaining; however, the government did not enforce it…Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination were required to reinstate workers fired for union activities but could transfer them to different locations. Antiunion discrimination was a punishable offense liable for a fine of 20,000 rupees ($177).” [2b] (Section 7a) “While there was no national minimum wage, 43 wage boards established by the Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower set minimum wages and working conditions by sector and industry in consultation with unions and employers. The minimum wage in sectors covered by wage boards was increased to 5,750 rupees ($51) in 2008. In addition to the minimum wage, employees covered by the wage boards received an allowance of 1,000 rupees per month ($9) in 2005 that effectively brought the total minimum wage to 6,750 rupees per month ($60). The minimum wages set by some wage boards was higher than the government stipulated minimum wage. These minimum wages, however, did not always provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The minimum wage in the public sector was higher than that governed by the wage boards. Workers in sectors not covered by wage boards, including informal sector workers, were not covered by any minimum wage. “The law prohibited most full time workers from regularly working more than 45 hours per week (a five-and-a-half-day workweek). In addition the law stipulates a rest period of one hour per day. Regulations limit the maximum overtime hours to 15 per week... Several laws protect the safety and health of industrial workers, but the Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower's efforts were inadequate to enforce compliance. Health and safety regulations do not meet international standards. Workers have the statutory right to remove themselves from dangerous situations, but many workers were unaware or indifferent to such rights and feared they would lose their jobs if they removed themselves from the work situation.” [2b] (Section 7e) Return to Contents Go to list of sources Annexes Annex A: chronology of major events Unless stated otherwise, the information below is based on the BBC Timeline for Sri Lanka, accessed on 20 September 2010 [9i] See also Annex B: Timelines 1948 Ceylon gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1956 Sri Lanka Freedom Party wins the general election; Solomon Bandaranaike becomes Prime Minister. 1959 Bandaranaike is assassinated. His widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike succeeds him as SLFP leader and Prime Minister. 1972 The country becomes known as Sri Lanka. 1976 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are formed 1978 New Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka comes into force. [1a] Jayawardene becomes the country’s fist executive President. The Tamil language is recognised in the Constitution. 1983 13 soldiers killed in LTTE ambush. Subsequent anti-Tamil riots leave an estimated several hundred Tamils. Start of ‘First Eelam War’. 1985 First attempt of peace talks between the Government and the LTTE fails 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan peace accord signed. Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) deployed to Sri Lanka 1990 The IPKF leave Sri Lanka. Hostilities between the Government and the LTTE hostilities escalate 1991 LTTE implicated in the assassination of Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi 1993 Assassination of President Premadasa killed in LTTE bomb attack. 1994 Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga comes to power 1995-2001 War rages across north and east. Tigers bomb Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site. President Kumaratunga is wounded in a bomb attack. Suicide attack on the international airport destroys half the Sri Lankan Airlines fleet. 2002 Sri Lankan Government and LTTE sign a cease-fire agreement with the mediation of Norway. De-commissioning of weapons begins; the A9 road linking the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka reopens after 12 years; passenger flights to Jaffna resume. Government lifts ban on Tamil Tigers. Rebels drop demand for separate state. 2003 The LTTE suspend participation in the peace talks but the ceasefire holds 2004 March: Renegade Tamil Tiger commander, known as Colonel Karuna, leads split in rebel movement and goes underground with his supporters. The LTTE regain control of the east with a short offensive. July: Suicide bomb blast in Colombo, the first such incident since 2001 December: More than 30,000 people killed in the tsunami 2005 June: row over the deal reached with the Tamil Tiger rebels to share nearly $3bn in tsunami aid among Sinhalas, Tamils and Muslims August: State of Emergency is declared after foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is assassinated. November: Mahinda Rajapakse, at the time prime minister, wins presidential elections. 2006 February: Government and Tamil Tiger rebels declare their respect for the 2002 ceasefire. April: Explosions and rioting in Trincomalee. The main military compound in Colombo is attacked by a suicide bomber (at least eight people are killed). The army launches air strikes on Tamil Tiger targets. June: 64 people are killed in a mine attack on a bus in Anuradhapura district. A few days later, more than 30 people are killed in a battle between Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels in the Mannar district. August: Clashes between Tamil Tiger rebels and Government forces in the north-east, considered the worst fighting since the 2002 ceasefire. Hundreds of people are killed and the UN says tens of thousands have fled. September: The Government says it has pushed Tamil Tiger rebels from the mouth of strategic Trincomalee harbour. This is seen as the first major capture of enemy territory by either side since a 2002 ceasefire. October: A suicide bomber attacks a military convoy, killing more than 90 sailors. December: the Government announces revised though emergency regulations. [76c] 2007 January: After weeks of heavy fighting the military announces the capture of the Tamil Tiger stronghold of Vakarai, in the east. Tens of thousands of civilians flee the area. President Rajapakse's Government secures a parliamentary majority after 25 opposition MPs defect to its ranks. March: Government troops claim continuing success against the Tamil Tigers rebels in coastal areas in the east. Thousands of civilians flee the fighting. Tamil Tigers launch their first air raid, hitting a military base next to the Katunayake Colombo international airport. June: Police evict hundreds of Tamils from lodges in Colombo, citing security concerns, but the Supreme Court orders an end to the expulsions. July: Government declares it has gained control of Thoppigala – the LTTE’s last jungle stronghold in the east. October: Eight aircraft destroyed, 30 people killed in Tamil Tiger attack on Anuradhapura air force base 2 November: The leader of the Tamil Tiger rebel political wing S.P Thamilselvan is killed in a raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force. 2008 January: Government pulls out of 2002 ceasefire agreement. Government minister DM Dassanayake dies after a roadside bomb attack on his convoy in Colombo. March: International panel, invited by the government to monitor investigations into alleged human rights abuses, announces that it is leaving the country. April: Highways Minister J. Fernandopulle is killed in an explosion near Colombo blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels. Dozens of soldiers reported killed in clashes with Tamil Tigers in far north. July: Sri Lankan military says it has captured the important Tamil Tiger naval base of Vidattaltivu in the north of the island. Clashes between Government troops and the LTTE reported in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavunyia. [51a] August: in addition to Trincomalee, the fighting spreads to the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu districts causing large population displacement. [51a] November: Fighting intensifies in Kilnochichi district. [51a] 2009 January: Government troops capture the northern town of Kilinochchi, held since 1998 by the Tamil Tigers as their administrative headquarters. The ban on the LTTE is re-enforced. [44b] Government troops regain control of the A-9 highway; capture the entire Jaffna peninsula and at a later stage Mullaitivu Town, the LTTE’s stronghold in the Eastern coast. [37b]
Tamil Tiger planes conduct suicide raids against Colombo. March: Former rebel leader Karuna is sworn in as minister of national integration and reconciliation. May: Government declares victory over the Tamil Tigers. Military says rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the fighting. Tamil Tiger statement says the group will lay down its arms. August: New Tamil Tiger leader Selvarasa Pathmanathan detained by Sri Lankan authorities. First post-war local elections held in the north. October: Government announces early presidential and parliamentary elections. November: Opposition parties form alliance to fight elections. The new alliance includes Muslim and Tamil parties. 2010 January: President Mahinda Rajapasksa is re-elected [4e] February: Gen Fonseka is arrested. President Rajapaksa dissolves parliament, clearing way for elections in April. April: President Rajapaksa's ruling coalition wins landslide victory in parliamentary elections. May: Emergency regulations (ERs) are relaxed. [75c] (p10-11) August: Military court finds former army chief Sarath Fonseka guilty of involvement in politics while in uniform and sentences him to a dishonourable discharge. September: Parliament approves a constitutional change allowing President Rajapaksa to seek unlimited number of terms. Return to Contents Go to list of sources Annex B: Timelines SATP (South Asia Terrorism Portal) Sri Lanka Timeline for the period 2 August – 17 September 2010) The section of the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) Sri Lanka timeline reproduced below covers the period 2 August – 17 September 2010 [37d] For incidents and events prior to 2 August 2010 go to the SATP website, Timelines. [37i] “August 2 The TNA [Tamil National Alliance] accused the Government of militarising some of the areas in the Northern Province earlier occupied by the LTTE. The Minister in charge of Resettlement, Milroy Fernando, told BBC Sandeshaya that the Government needs to establish military camps in the area 'for national security'. "Can the navy be stationed away from the sea?" queried the minister when asked about the navy acquiring hundreds of acres in Mannar. Those affected will be only a 'small number of people,' he added. Guy Platton, Charge d’affaires of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) said the EU never felt that it was a criminal act on the part of the Sri Lankan Government to wage war on the LTTE, though the EU always wanted to end the fighting to pave the way for a negotiated settlement to avoid massive loss of life in contravention of the Geneva Conventions. Platton was responding to a query by The Island, in the wake of recent revelation of excesses by foreign forces including US, British and Polish troops. August 3 Sri Lanka Security Forces announced that a key high security zone (HSZ) in the island's Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula has been removed. This high security zone was in effect for around 15 years since the Army liberated the Jaffna peninsula from the Tamil rebels in 1995. The zone centered on Ceynor Jetty in Gurunagar, a major fisher community area in Jaffna. Government sources said that the high security zone was removed to facilitate the resettlement process. Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne 3 [sic] stated that the Government is in the process of confiscating the assets including houses, plots of land and business establishments that were run by the LTTE in Colombo and the suburbs. The Prime Minister moving the Motion to extend the Emergency Regulations by another one month, in Parliament further stated that information about the assets of the LTTE in Colombo and the suburbs are being divulged by LTTE cadres who have been arrested. The Prime Minister also stated it is obvious that the pro-LTTE International Organizations are attempting to reinvigorate the LTTE. August 4 U.S. Homeland Security is monitoring the Sri Lankan Tamil migrant ship heading to Canada. According to reports of Sri Lankan media there are many cadres of LTTE aboard the Thai ship MV Sun Sea. Meanwhile Canadian authorities said on August 1 that they are preparing to handle any situation that may be arising from the arrival of the migrant ship carrying Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Vancouver Island some time in the second week of August. August 8 De-mining in the Jaffna peninsula of Northern Sri Lanka has been accelerated and the peninsula will be a mine-free zone within September 2010. TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said that IDPs from the Santhapuram area in the Kilinochchi District were not allowed to resettle in their original homes after they were asked to return home. August 9 Canada expressed concern that a Thai ship MV Sun Sea heading to British Columbia with migrants on board may be carrying cadres of LTTE. Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said that Ottawa is concerned over the possibility that there may be Tamil Tigers on board the Thai cargo ship and the authorities are closely monitoring the situation but did not elaborate on the steps the Government would take. August 11 A Government-appointed panel tasked with investigating the final years of Sri Lanka's civil war opened in Colombo.
August 12 Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said that China has pledged its support to Sri Lanka against any international pressure for a United Nations-led probe into alleged war crimes. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister dismissed Indian concerns that the Chinese-built deep-sea port at Hambantota was part of Beijing's policy to expand its strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean, describing it as a purely commercial venture.
August 13 A Sri Lankan court martial, probing charges that General (retd.) Sarath Fonseka dabbled in politics while in uniform, found him guilty and recommended him for a ‘dishonourable discharge from rank.’ Hundreds of Tamils seeking asylum from Sri Lanka sailed into Canada under escort of authorities, who vowed to screen out LTTE cadres. August 17 The Canadian Government said that authorities would screen each individual Sri Lankan Tamil migrant who embarked on Canadian shores on August 13 from the Thai cargo ship MV Sun Sea. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that the Federal Government will not hesitate to strengthen Canada's human smuggling laws. According to the Canada Border Services all 380 men and 63 women are detained while the 49 children on board MV Sun Sea are either with their families or in the care of local social services. Public Safety Minister Victor Toews said that each migrant had paid 40,000 to 50,000 Canadian dollars to the ship operators to bring them to Canada from Thailand. He has described the voyage as a human smuggling operation run by the overseas cadres of LTTE. Meanwhile, the UNHCR has commended Canada for its reception given to the 492 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees arrived in British Columbia's Vancouver Island aboard the Thai cargo ship MV Sun Sea. August 19 Sri Lanka Army reports that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the Lessons Learnt Commission that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) had used the Jaffna University Medical Faculty to train some its cadres to treat the war wounded. He said that he had got the opportunity to meet three 'LTTE doctors' now undergoing rehabilitation at Senapura rehabilitation centre. According to him, as Sinhala and Muslim medical students had not been willing to join the Jaffna medical faculty due to terrorism, the LTTE had made use of some of those slots to have its cadres trained. August 26 Defence Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar will soon visit Colombo to get an idea normalising the defence relationship between India and Sri Lanka with the end of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. The issue is to be taken up at the first annual defence dialogue between the two countries August 30 An investigative report by Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail revealed that an alleged LTTE human-smuggling ring is preparing to smuggle another shipload of Tamils who have left Sri Lanka to be sent to Canada. The report says the Tamils arrive in Bangkok from Sri Lanka on two-week tourist visas and stay in rented apartments pretending to be tourists until the next ship is ready to sail to Canada. The report citing the Thai Police said some of the refugees left on MV Sun Sea, the cargo ship that reached Vancouver earlier this month with 492 Tamil asylum seekers on board, were recent arrivals, who entered the country on tourist visas shortly before the ship departed in April. September 6 Sri Lanka's former Army Commander and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Parliamentarian Sarath Fonseka said that 200 kilograms of gold belonging to the LTTE was unearthed from the Vellamullivaikkal area in the Mullaitivu District during his tenure as Army Chief. Fonseka told the Parliament during the debate to extend the emergency regulations that while larger stocks of gold had been recovered after his tenure as Commander no one knew what happened to the gold. September 13 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) decided to testify before the Presidential Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation when they would meet in Kilinochchi on September 16, 17 and 18. The TNA accepted the invitation and said that it would testify before the Commission, as they felt the problems of the Tamil people had not been recorded even though they had been presented in previous occasions. September 14 The Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission suggested President Mahinda Rajapakse some interim measures to better the lot of resettled Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and people living in former conflict areas. Other measures suggested by the eight-member Commission include enabling people to use their own language in official dealings, especially while making statements to the police. September 16 Around 25,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) remaining in welfare centers will be resettled by the Sri Lankan Government as soon as the demining is completed in the areas where they are to be resettled. The Government producing resettlement figures said on September 16 that the total number of IDPs remaining in welfare centers in Vavuniya, Mannar and Trincomalee has come down to 25, 260 from over 280,000 IDPs who escaped from the LTTE in last phases of the war in 2009. September 17 A court martial in Sri Lanka held the former Army Chief, Sarath Fonseka, guilty on all four counts in a case related to procurement of arms in violation of the tender procedures and recommended that he be jailed for three years. Director-General of the Media Centre for National Security Lakshman Hulugalle said at a news conference that the punishment would be subject to approval of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces. The Sri Lankan cabinet recently decided to award the contract to build a new deep-water container terminal in Colombo port to a consortium consisting of China Merchant Holdings International and Aitken Spence. According to reports, the terminal will be built by the same company that built the Hambantota port complex - China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and Sino Hydro Corporation.” [37d] All the SATP timelines for the years 2000-2010 and (less in detail) the period 1931-1999 can be accessed from the following link: http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/timeline/index.html [37i] Download 1.84 Mb. Share with your friends:
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