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By Ravi Ladduwahetty and Channa Kasturisinghe

Frontline Trade Chambers yesterday called upon the government to drastically cut down the number of holidays prevalent in the country, which they believed were a deterrent to controlling production costs and increasing export competitiveness.

Sri Lanka's export competitiveness has been hampered to a great degree with the present system of over exactly half of the whole year as holidays and this was also a contributory factor to the costs of industrial production, they said.

President of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sri Lanka (FCCISL), Macky Hashim said: "It was the trade chambers which mooted labour reforms to the Government and one of the priorities in the reforms was the drastic slashing of holidays which has reduced Sri Lanka's export competitiveness."

We are certainly not against the employees getting additional benefits such as increased wages and other emoluments but they have to be matched with productivity, he said.

Stressing the importance of productivity, he said that the business community did not mind paying additional salaries and other benefits in an environment where the labour was conscious of their obligations in terms of higher output. In such instances both the employer and the employee benefit. And it is a matter of reciprocation, he said.

He also endorsed the need for the Trade Unions to educate their members on the need to improve productivity.

Secretary of the National Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka (NCCSL), Neil Seneviratne said: "Too many holidays in Sri Lanka's working calendar is an absurd situation where not only production and productivity has been hampered but costs of industrial production has also risen to unprecedented levels. Therefore, Sri Lanka is finding it difficult to retain its export competitiveness against competing countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India.

"We are under the labour reforms, we are not advocating a 'hire and fire' system but reforms which are mutually beneficial to both the employer and the employee.

The former President of the National Chamber of Commerce and President BIMST-EC Business Forum, Chandra Embuldeniya said the proposed labour reforms would be beneficial to the country in two ways.

"One advantage is that these reforms would encourage more local and foreign investors to launch new ventures in this country. It would create more employment opportunities and help the growth of the economy.

On the other hand by establishing an effective legal system with regard to labour matters, it would pave the way for an industrial sector which is dispute free and more productive. Therefore, I think the proposed labour reforms would be instrumental in our effort to resurrect the economy in the country and they would certainly bring long term economic benefits," Embuldeniya said.

He said the working community of the country should have no fear over the proposed reforms. "There have been several discussions among politicians, business community and trade unions for over one year regarding the proposed reforms. The business community of the country was of the opinion that labour reforms were essential for the development of the industrial sector of this country, but most trade unions opposed the proposals as usual. There were certain political parties and groups which used the opposing factors for their advantage and organised them to protest against the implementation of these reforms which were vital for the future economic growth of the country especially at a time we are striving to recover from a major economic debacle.

The Labour Minister at various meetings of the special task force on the proposed reforms where representatives of the business community and all the recognised trade unions participated tried his best to allay any fears on the reforms raised by various groups. However, some of the unions continued to oppose the reforms fearing that they would lose their hold on the working community of this country," Embuldeniya said. He said that it is also essential for the Government to create a social security system for the welfare of the working people of the country.

"There is opposition against the amendments to the Termination of Employment Act and one of the main reason for these fears is the lack of a proper social security system. These amendments are essential as the existing act is too restrictive and companies find difficulties in restructuring.

However, if the proposed reforms would bring about more investment to the country there will be more reemployment opportunities and there will be job security," Embuldeniya said.

Referring to allegations that there were certain amendments which contravene International Labour Organisation Conventions, Embuldeniya said that the Government should directly address the working people and educate them on the proposed reforms.

"Sri Lanka is one of the countries which has agreed with a higher number of ILO Conventions. Therefore, the Government should clear any doubts in the minds of people by educating them in this regard," Embuldeniya said.

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