Role of Trade Unions

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appeal to all Trade Unions to be flexible in making demands at this critical stage of the country’s history warrants a serious appraisal by our working class fraternity who formed a sizable component that elected him to the highest office of the land.

Presiding at a meeting of Teacher Trade Union delegates on Friday at Temple Trees President Rajapaksa said the Government was not only concerned with the salary anomalies within the education sector but also the entire public service.

This in itself is an appreciation by the President of the travails faced by the working class due to the prevailing high cost of living.

The many schemes currently being worked out to alleviate the conditions of low income earners such as the ‘budget shop’ concept and steps to cushion the high cost of electricity by a relief scheme to consumers are but an indiction of the acknowledgement by the President of the gravity of the problem.

At the discussions with the Teacher Trade Unions the President had not outright rejected any relief. He had only urged caution and due consideration in the face of the enormous sacrifices made by the Forces in the noble endeavour to protect the Motherland.

At a time when the heroic Forces are waging a valiant battle to rid the country of terrorism it is the bounden duty of Government servants to act with responsibility and restraint.

Coming from a leader known as a friend of the working class and a live wire in the Trade Union movement during his days as a budding politician the President’s appeal to a group of teachers who are considered as a responsible segment in our society no doubt has a ring of candour and credulity which it is hoped would be heeded by other Trade Union groups clamouring for solutions to their grievances.

This is not to say that Trade Union grievances should be relegated to the back burner until the war is concluded. The appeal by the President was for patience and refraining from precipitate action.

Inherent in the President’s appeal was the need for giving due consideration to the sacrifices of the Forces at this junction and the necessity for putting up a joint front as a nation so that the Armed Forces could carry out their task happy in the knowledge of the sacrifice on the part of their fellow countrymen to ensure that their mission is successfully accomplished.

The spectacle of strikes demanding higher wages and other facilities while the war against terrorism has reached a decisive phase is not the ideal backdrop for the Servicemen to carry out their onerous task with any degree of satisfaction.

Also the President is all too aware what a concession to a particular segment or group could do and it must be his fervent wish to prevent a chain reaction that could cause many a trade union harbouring grievances to come out with their own demands.

He is no doubt in an unenviable position as a leader who is looked upon by the working class as a champion of their rights, to ameliorate their conditions. Expectations are high on this score. On the other hand as head of State President Rajapaksa has to weigh his priorities against what are naturally populist measures - and the need at the moment is garnering all resources of the State to liberate the country from the scourge of terrorism.

In a separate meeting with Inland Revenue officers the President urged trade unions to resolve their grievances amicably through dialogue and consensus.

Trade union action and disruption to services would also be counter productive vis-a-vis the battle against the Tigers who are likely to cash in on any form of friction in the South to achieve their vile ends. The authorities should use a firm hand to deal with sinister forces who try to incite workers.

Like the President stated all problems and grievances of workers should be sorted out internally with Trade Union action used only as a final tool to win the just demands of the working class.