Democratically elected government of the day should have the freedom and the authority to decide on policy matters and direct the country’s economic progress taking advantage of the ongoing global and regional developments. It is natural for trade unions to oppose any kind of reforms that affect their employment but they have no authority to overstep their territory by impinging on the government’s mandate to run the country.
By Gamini Abeywardane
People who
have been sick of student protests and GMOA strikes over SAITM issue were
forced to witness another series of trade union excesses this week at the Ceylon
Petroleum Corporation (CPC). The sudden stoppage of work by the petroleum
workers caused immense hardships to people and was about to bring the whole
economic machinery to a standstill when the police and the army intervened
under an essential services order and brought the situation under control.
The main
demands of the trade unionists were only remotely connected to their trade,
right to bargain or conditions of employment. On the contrary they were trying
to impinge on the lawfully elected government’s right to govern the country by
dictating them on the economic policy.They were demanding that the Hambantota Port privatization deal be amended to keep petroleum related activities under the CPC; the proposed joint project with India to develop the hither to neglected British built oil tanks in Trincomalee be stopped and the oil tanks should be handed over to the CPC; and Sapugaskanda oil refinery be modernized with state funds under the CPC without getting the foreign private investments into it.
The CPC
workers have no right to dictate to the government on this type of policy
matters. As is the common knowledge, the Hambantota Port is a huge burden to
the government with Rs 43 billion loss in 2015 alone and the only way to make
it viable is to manage it with Chinese participation and the deal with the
Chinese company will rid the country of the debt burden by transferring an
equity share in lieu of the loan.
It is no
secret that the Chinese funded the project because Hambantota will be an
important port on their proposed Silk Route. The previous government rightly or
wrongly had embarked on this project and now we have little option other than
working with the Chinese. Sri Lanka which is in an economic turmoil after
fighting a bitter war for several decades will not be able to undertake a
project of that magnitude on her own. No other international funding sources
will agree to provide financial support as they know that Sri Lanka alone has
no capacity to make such a port economically viable within a reasonable time.The oil tank farm in Trincomallee which was built by the British colonial rulers for military purposes prior to the Second World War has been neglected for a long time and has been exposed to decay. It had been constructed at a huge cost at the time and handed over to us following the departure of the Royal Navy in the late 1950s.
Most of
those storage tanks are still in good condition and it is a prudent thing to
put them to some good use in a way the country can receive some income. Some
understanding has already been reached with India to jointly develop these
tanks for oil storage and bunkering purposes which will be economically
beneficial to both countries.
The third
demand of the CPC unions is also equally unreasonable. The upgrading and modernization
of Sapugaskanda oil refinery is an urgent need as the country is currently
spending a massive amount of money to buy refined oil. However, the total
project cost will exceed US$ 1.3 billion and with other priorities and
repayment of existing loans becoming due, it is not possible to make such an
investment. Currently there are plans to develop it with a foreign party as a
public private partnership.
All these are
projects that are necessary to be completed within a reasonable time and Sri
Lanka is short of funds to do so on her own strength. Then the next viable
alternative is to undertake them with participation of foreign investors. These
are mostly policy decisions the government has to take and hardly connected to the
labour rights of those who work at the CPC.
If tolerated, this type of actions which are totally
outside the employment issues of the workers could spread into other areas as
well making it impossible for a legally elected government to run this country.
Some may raise issues over the manner the military took over the control of the
oil installations, but that is the only way the government could bring the
situation under control. Public sympathy is surely with the government and not
with the unruly strikers who are determined to achieve their motives by taking
the government to ransom and destroying state property. Parallel action by GMOA
This followed a similar wave of trade union action taken by the GMOA recently disrupting the health services over the SAITM issue. That too has similarities in the sense what they were agitating for had lessor connection to the professional or employment rights of the doctors, but a policy matter as to whether private medical education should be recognized and allowed to develop in this country.
The striking doctors were not saying so directly, but
were insisting that the SAITM should be nationalized which in effect meant that
no private medical education institution should be recognized even in the
future whatever its standards are going to be. There was a lot of ambiguity on
this point which finally exposed the motives of the GMOA.
Some time ago they also opposed the introduction of the
free ambulance service backed by the Indian government. Despite objections by
the GMOA, the government went ahead with the project and the free ambulance
service is operating quite well in the western province and is now being
expanded to other areas as well. Opposing doctors would have perhaps thought
that this would encourage the entry of Indian medical professionals into the
country, but it has not happened that way.
If you compare the two situations those who participated
in the strikes are two groups of employees who are well looked after. Doctors
are well paid and enjoy much privileges and perquisites such as right to
private practice and duty free vehicles which other state workers are not
entitled to. The employees of the CPC have good salaries and enjoy many other
facilities such as medical benefits, bonuses and handsome overtime payments
enabling even the lowest grade employees to enjoy a much better standard of
living compared to other government employees.
Both these
groups together with workers in similar utilities and essential services have
been able to win many demands far and above other categories of state employees
because of the vital nature of their services to the daily lives of the people.
Thus they have been able to take many governments to ransom in the past when it
came to winning employment related demands.
However, the
issue developing now is different as these trade unions with the backing of
certain political groups are now moving outside the traditional areas where
trade union rights are recognized and going into governmental policy issues
which are remotely connected to their trades.
This issue
merits adequate public attention as the country is in a critical stage where
major reforms are necessary in many vital areas of the economy to take best
advantage of the developing macroeconomic and investment climate in Asia and
particularly the South Asian region. It is also significant that we will not be
able to do this in isolation and it is necessary to work with all regional and
global powers that are active participants in this transformation and in this
regard China, India and Japan are important partners for Sri Lanka.
Any effort
to scuttle economic reforms in these vital areas will have a significant negative
impact on the future of our country and it is unfortunate that these efforts to
block the economic reforms are often backed by disgruntled political forces that
are hell bent on ensuring their own survival in total disregard of the economic
future of the country.
Democratically
elected government of the day should have the freedom and the authority to
decide on policy matters and direct the country’s economic progress taking
advantage of the ongoing global and regional developments. It is natural for
trade unions to oppose any kind of reforms that affect their employment but
they have no authority to overstep their territory by impinging on the
government’s mandate to run the country. Courtesy:
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