| Workshop Background Paper | ||
See text links
below.
30. Then what about the situation in the Clothing sector? Is it as rosy as it appears to be or is it an illusion? On paper it is said that all employees in the EPZs and out-side having BOI facilities enjoy labour rights first as their counterparts in non EPZ/BOI enterprises.
However, it is well known that the right of association freely and without is not common in BOI/EPZ enterprises.
Box No. 4 The editorial of "The Island" of 23rd May '97 states,
"Sri Lankan workers are extremely~ conscious of their rights and fight hard for them. There are labour laws~ which protect rights of workers' except most BOI projects,
where the: workers: have not been able to unionize themselves : "
As reported in the 10105/97 edition of "Weekend Express"' employees of the Katunayake FTZ were not permitted even to hang a banner on May Day in the FTZ area. They have held a rally at Ja- Ela Lourdes Play Ground.
31. Still, these restrictions can be construed as consistent with articles 5,6 & 7 of the constitution whereby conditions can be imposed inter-alia in the economic interests of the country. Nevertheless, employees of the EPZ in Katunayake, Biyagama Koggala, and Pallekele enjoy the right to have Joint Consultative Councils and that appears to be the accepted norm in EPZs.
32. The right of association may have questions in cases where the economic consideration, impact of globalization on TC industry, emergence of new competitors who claims a "disciplined" workforce and the resulting stiff competition is taken into consideration. No one can argue against the formation of interest groups within a trade, with or without affiliation to out side interest groups. What appears to be objectionable in the EPZ/BOI enterprises may be the affiliation to organizations that have dogmatic views on the type of economic policies that should be pursued by Governments which is a national issue. It is perhaps this tendency to raise national issues at workplace level, that has led to the apparent violation of the right of association vis a vis organized unions.
33. In an enterprise each and every employee who performs the same or a similar job should be compensated equally and should enjoy the same benefits. They should not be discriminated on account of service, gender or for any other reason. Some companies violate this principle.
34. BOI company has discriminatory leave benefits based on the date of joining the company and change of ownership. The privilege of short leave is also limited to those employees who were in service prior to the new ownership.
Box No. 5 "The following leave benefits could be enjoyed by all the employees who were in the
permanent cadre on . . . and who were absorbed to the company: as permanent employees.
Personal leave -
Vacation 14 days:
Casual 07 days
Medical 21 days
All employees who were enlisted in the permanent cadre on or after .................. and who were made permanent can enjoy leave~ on the following basis in each calendar year.
Personal leave 14
Casual + Medical: 07"
35. The "new" entrants, that is those who joined after the ownership transfer are not paid the variable cost of living allowance that is paid to "old" employees. Further, the initial salary of "new" employees is Rs. 2000/= and without any other benefits normally enjoyed by the "old" employees.
Box No. 6
Another Textile Mill where a subsidiary company has a BOI status, also adopts the same discriminatory treatment between the parent company employees and BQI enterprise employees. But, surprisingly, both companies are within the same building and share the same infrastructure facilities and also have a common administration.
36. Over 85% of employees in the TC industry are females. Maternity leave is covered under the Maternity Benefits Ordinance and part 1A of the Shop and Office Employees Act. It is interesting to note that under the Maternity Benefits Ordinance a female employee who gives birth to the first and second live child gets, 12 weeks' leave, and the payment of wages is limited to 72 days as the weekly day of rest under Wages Board Ordinance is an unpaid holiday. An employee covered under the Shop and Office Acts gets paid for 84 days as weekly holidays are considered paid holidays. Further, an employee is also entitled to get, in addition to the 84 days of leave, about 18 additional days on account of weekly holidays of one and a half days, poya holidays and any other public/mercantile holiday, all with pay. This discrepancy highlights unequal treatment of employees in the face of an "identical situation" (i.e. child birth) for a natural bodily phenomena. This is an anomaly that should be corrected urgently as 85% of employees of the TC trade are females. The relevant laws should therefore be suitably amended.
37. Discriminatory treatment within the same company appeared to be confined to the privatized ventures. This discriminating practice of differential treatment on account of service or date of joining is not seen in the Clothing Industry.
38. The working environment in general is said to be the environment in which an employee performs his profession or work. The working environment has various attributes. They can be classified into Physical and Legal attributes.
39. These attributes refer to the physical aspects of the work place. Subjects like working hours, rest days, rest periods during working hours, safety and industrial accidents, a potable supply of water, hygienic food, a clean working environment, sanitary and toilet facilities and transport facilities fall well within the ambit of Physical Attributes.
40. In general the Clothing Sector working day is 10 to 12 hours. True, overtime is paid, but should it be the norm day in and day out? Is it not possible to reconsider the length of the working day? Again, better planning and higher productivity can change the situation, certainly for the better. It can have tremendous savings on utility costs such as electricity and water.
41. It is generally accepted, that the clothing industry has to work more than 8 to 9 hours a day. If the employees work in an air conditioned environment, if not, at least in well ventilated and lit surroundings with adequate amount of rest periods these employees may be able to work 10 to 12 hours every day. Unfortunately, these ideal conditions do not exist in all the enterprises. Some of the factories are virtual 'sweat shops', particularly the medium and small scale enterprises. Our experience is that even some of the large scale factories fall into this category of 'sweat shops'. The Primary Textile Sector, by contrast, works on the shift basis and therefore, work is limited to 8 working hours (on a 3 shift basis). Overtime is usually allowed on a full shift basis but not to all the employees every day. It is done, only as and when it is necessary. The question of long working hours in the Textile Sector is not as acute as in the Clothing Sector.
42. The need for a weekly day of rest is a time honoured concept. It is rather interesting to note that all major religions, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam have recognised this fact. Buddhists take a rest on the four poya days a month, Christians on Sundays and Muslims on Fridays. This is because these religious leaders realized that people need rest. But unfortunately in the TC industry, particularly the clothing sector this cardinal principle is sometimes violated. While accepting that delivery dates must be kept, one wonders whether it's not possible to plan better and avoid working on weekends?
43. In this respect the Primary Textile Industry has a better record. Textile Mills either work 6 days a week and have Sunday as a day of rest or alternatively have a 7 day week with a rest day on a roster basis.
44. The TC industry like any other industry has its share of safety problems with its employees. The Primary Textile Sector requires very high safety standards due to the nature of the manufacturing process. The production machines invariably have unguarded moving parts either rotary or reciprocatory. They cannot be covered due to process or machine design requirements. For instance, moving parts of a weaving loom cannot be kept covered. It needs to be kept exposed. Similarly, quite a large number of finishing machines have uncovered moving elements but there are areas where covers could be provided.
Box No. 7 These open, unguarded, moving parts can cause fatal accidents. An article by Dr. Hemamal Jayawardena. (Sunday Leader 05/02/95) refers to a fatal accident in a fishing net manufacturing company vividly illustrating the dangers of unguarded moving parts.
Quote
.... It was also discovered at the inquiry into sudden deaths' that this 20 year old factory
worker was over worked. The accident could: have easily been prevented if:the machine had c
covering on top to prevent the half woven nets from coming out!"
unquote.
45. Unlike in the clothing sector where ambient processing conditions are constant, the environment differs widely in the Primary Textile Sector. In cotton spinning, conditions are low humidity (45 - 55% RH) and high temperature (over 35°C) and the environment is polluted with dust and fibres. In weaving, it is humid (70-85% RH) with a moderate temperature (2832°C) and has noise pollution. (Over 90dB). In finishing, it is hot (over 35°C) and has steam and fumes in the processing area. These somewhat extreme conditions lead to occupational illnesses. Fibrosis is found among those working in the spinning mills. Hearing deficiencies or partial deafness is a result of constant exposure to sound in a weaving shed. Skin and eye irritations and respiratory problems are associated with those working in finishing mills. Cutting rooms in clothing factories also have a dusty environment particularly if micro fibre fabrics or waddings are cut.
46. The employees in the textile industry are exposed to occupational hazards. The employees therefore, should be provided with suitable safety/protective gear such as masks, ear plugs, gloves, goggles, head gear, boots etc. free of charge and the use of such safety gear has to be rigorously enforced, even though some employees may tend to ignore their use in the mistaken belief that safety gear hinders work efficiency. In the clothing sector, working conditions are relatively less hazardous. However, the cutting section creates a dusty environment and provision of nose masks should ease the problem considerably.
47. The TC industry is susceptible to fire hazards. A few fires were reported in the last few years. Some were major fires. Luckily no serious injuries or deaths were reported. Considering the number of employees in a factory, it is necessary for the companies to embark on regular fire drills and evacuation drills in order to safeguard the interests of the employees. This type of preparation is a rare occurrence in the TC industry. Evacuation plans and designated converging points for head counts are not considered important by the industry. It is the preparedness and constant practice that can save life and limb.
48. Thirst and call of nature are basic to all living beings. Access to clean potable water and sanitary conveniences in keeping with the special requirements of female employees is a basic requirement. Except in reputed large scale factories, sanitary and clean conveniences are a distant dream. It is rather shameful, that more often than not these facilities stink and adequate numbers are not provided for the workforce. The Primary Textile Sector appear to have less concern for these requirements than the Clothing Industry. At least in the case of BOI enterprises the BOI guide on labour standards and relations give guide lines on issues like sanitary conveniences, drinking water and washing facilities.
49. Another issue is the provision of a clean place to eat and to provide clean and healthy food and the provision of appropriate bins to discard waste. Overflowing dust bins and flies are not uncommon in the TC industry canteens. Even though some factories provide ultra-modern canteen facilities a large number of factories do not. However this is not peculiar only to the TC industry but is a common feature in general. BOI Labour Standards and Relations even set guidelines on meat rooms. "A meal room with sufficient number of tables and seating accommodation to accommodate at least 1/3 of the workforce at a time shall be provided. Minimum floor area (excluding fitting, kitchen - service areas per person using the meal room shall be 10 sq. ft. Sufficient number of taps/wash basins should be provided in the meal room."
