The Industrial Trade Union Confederation (ITC) and the International Textiles, Garments and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLF) function as consultants to the EU and had asked the unions of Sri Lanka whether the time was right for them to intervene in the unions’ long drawn battle with the industrialists over labour violations.

"For the sake of GSP+ we have asked them to hold-on for a while longer. We want to handle the issue our selves because should they intervene, things could get very difficult," Anton Marcus, FTZ and General Services Employees’ Union, told the Island Financial Review.

"When GSP+ was first granted in 2005 the unions were consulted by the industry. We maintained then that labour laws had to be implemented effectively and labour rights respected," he said.

Marcus went on to say that in 2002 the unions had filed a case with the International Labour Organisation and had sent a petition to the EU asking them to grant GSP (before GSP+, Marcus said) concessions to Sri Lanka on condition that industrialists would respect labour rights.

"Sri Lanka got GSP under condition that workers had the right to organise themselves into trade unions and that companies would recognise these unions and enter into collective agreements with them. As a result, the BOI had to amend their rules and regulations and include rules and regulations on Labour Standards and Industrial Relations.

"But since then the industrialists have been, and still do, going to extremes of hiring lawyers propagating union busting, who maintain that the law of the country does not recognise the BOI manual on Labour Standards and Industrial Relations and came down hard on unions and in a particular case 250 employees of a single factory were fired on trade union related grounds.

"Soon the industrialists, together with these lawyers began to openly flout the BOI guidelines and labour unions were virtually wiped out in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone."

This time round unions vow things will be different

"This time, if we get an extension on GSP+ we will make sure that JAAF will honour the road map which was formulated in 2005, before we received GSP+ back then," he said.

The unions want JAAF to rectify and take corrective measures on violations, guarantee that no violations will occur after the extension of GSP+ and demands that more benefits be passed down to the factory workers.

No GSP+, no labour. Then what?

An extension of GSP+ hangs on the balance because the human rights environment of the country is closely scrutinised by the EU. And now the unions are drumming up more trouble for the industry.

We asked Marcus whether all this negativity would finally deny Sri Lanka GSP+ and result in unemployment for a majority of factory workers.

"You can have employment, what we are asking for is employment with respect," he said.

"GSP+ is important to us too and we need it. All we ask is that the industry includes the unions in their discussions with the EU so that labour violations will not continue in future. There should be a monitoring committee comprising members of JAAF and the unions, with room for a third party such as a representative of the ITC and ITGLF," Marcus said.

Lack of hindsight

When JAAF launched its Garments without Guilt campaign questions were often asked how the stragglers, those factories violating labour rights, would be brought in line? Had there been a monitoring committee all stragglers would have fallen in line and hot-headed unionists would have been under control. But it’s never too late.