Strikes – another form of terrorism

A news item which appeared in the Divaina dated 08 February 2022, under the title (translated to English) ‘The people must stand up against strikes – Dr Rukshan Bellana’ has quite rightly exposed the hidden agenda of the strikes being carried out by some trade unions affiliated to political parties. As per the news item, Dr. Rukshan Bellana, President of the Government Medical Officers’ Forum, has said that the health service is maintained by the taxes levied on the people and if they have problems, a civilised society will not allow them to take the patients hostage without resolving them through negotiations. He also said that this was a trade union action carried out on the behest of certain political parties and that the trade unions affiliated with the political parties should be banned and that the people should unite against such rallies.

Although Dr. Bellana has not named the individuals who are currently posing as trade union leaders, we are fully aware of how one of those trade union activists, attached to the health sector entered Parliament via the national list for political services rendered to the Yahapalana government. The easiest way to find out how they even contributed to the continuation of terrorism in the past is to search their records online. Interestingly, I found a list of names of the trade union activists attached to health services, among the list of politicians, so-called civil societies and trade union activists who were promoting the LTTE as an integral part of ‘the solution’ and campaigning in support of the CFA in 2006, on a pro LTTE website.

The freedom to involve in strikes were very limited (or non-existent) for government employees, prior to 1956. As a result of granting some freedom to the government and public sector employees, affiliated to political parties under the SWRD Bandaranaike government, elected in 1956, we remember how trade unions of ‘comrades’ political parties, who called upon workers to ‘establish an administration of the working class’, started strikes throughout the country even for minor issues. While addressing a public meeting during the 1960 general election, held after the assassination of SWRD, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike stated how those had inflected untold suffering on her husband by instigating strikes. By allowing politicians of successive governments to interfere with the various appointments within the public service, the government servants and their trade unions are politically divided, to an extent it is no longer under control today. I remember, as a former employee, how those ‘comrades’ started their first ever strike in the then Ceylon Steel Corporation in 1969 and how they attempted to achieve their dream of ‘an administration of the working class’ by forcefully chasing out the non-union members and the leading administration including the Chairman and the General Manager, after their failed strike and return to work. Some of the officials had to run for fear of life and ultimately, the then Minister of Industries, Philip Gunawardena had to interfere and ensure their safety so they could re-enter the Corporation site.

Although the right to strike is considered a human right and recognised in almost all so-called democratic champion countries, they have introduced legislation to regulate strike actions. In particular they impose limitations on strike actions of workers in public essential services, such as health, security, transportation, assistance and welfare, education and communication.

In the UK, strike actions organised by a trade union are legal provided some tough conditions are met. For example, the union must have conducted a lawful ballot of all the members it believes will be called upon to take part. In Australia, there may be a right to strike in limited circumstances, but in practice there is no right to strike, except in exceptional circumstances.

Under Australian laws, strikes can only happen during bargaining. At all other times they are unlawful. Even during bargaining there are too many hurdles. Before workers launch a strike, they must prove that they are genuinely trying to reach an agreement, hold an election and give their employer three clear days’ notice of the strike. If a strike happens outside of bargaining, workers and their unions face dire consequences.

In which case the employer can:

=Gets an automatic order from the Fair Work Commission requiring a return to work.

* Get injunctions from Federal and State Courts.

* Discipline workers or sack them.

* Sue unions and workers for contempt of court if orders or injunctions are not followed to the letter.

* Sue the workers and their union under various laws for fines up to $10,800 for workers and $54,000 for unions.

* Seek compensation against workers and their unions for lost revenue.

Even if the employer does not want to take legal action, government agencies, such as the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Australian Building and Construction Commission can initiate such action.

As an engineer who worked in various industries, almost half of my career outside Sri Lanka, including African and Pacific regions, I have not come across or even seen a single strike in those countries similar to what goes on in Sri Lanka. Considering the inconvenience caused to the general public, the government should take necessary steps to regulate strike actions, at least, in public essential services, similar to other countries in the world.

S. Akurugoda