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DateLine Tuesday, 15 July 2008

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A welcome move

The move by Labour Minister Athauda Seneviratne to introduce a national Salary policy for the private sector could be termed as a revolutionary move that would be welcomed by the private sector employees most of whom have been getting a raw deal from their employer.

Most of these unfortunate suffer in silence for lack of an alternative and are powerless to protest lest they are thrown out on their ear from their employment.

It is no secret that some of these firms bent on accumulating profits have mefted out shabby treatment to those in their pay and have largely got away with their callousness due to the overcrowded job market.

Some employees are deliberately employed on casual basis virtually holding them on a string.

A majority of these workers have to endure harsh conditions since most firms fail to comply with safety measures or health standards as the numerous articles appearing in the newspapers of misadventures at work places would testify.

This is not to say that the private sector as a whole should be painted with the same brush. If not for the opportunities provided by the burgeoning private sector, the country would have been in turmoil due to joblessness.

One would readily acknowledge that it is the private sector that has been the engine of growth as it has been rightly tagged and introduced new technology and other innovations into the work milieu that has revolutionised the commercial landscape in the country.

A majority of these firms look after their employees well and offer them salaries and perks that is the envy of their counterparts in the public sector.

At the same time, there are also the black sheep who short change their employees and rake in profits exploiting the sweat and toil of those in their employ. Non of these firms comply with Government requests for pay hikes whenever the State Sector had been granted increments.

They usually plead erosion of profits as a result of such a course and the Government too is helpless to intervene. Now hopefully the new salary policy for the private sector would force errant employers to fall in line and pay their workers a decent wage.

According to the Minister, the Government has acknowledged the need for a salary structure for the private sector in terms of a national policy so that anomalies in the private sector would be eliminated.

The Minister has also rightfully pointed out that poor salaries in the private sector is bound to affect growth, productivity and efficiency. This would certainly have a telling impact on the national economy and belie the label affixed to the private sector as the engine of growth.

As the Minister acknowledged, the present Shop and Office Act as well as the Collective Agreement has not brought in the anticipated dividends to private sector employees. Some contend that these two instruments are moribund and needs overhauling.

According to the scope of the proposed salary policy the Minister hopes into rope in employers to share in the profits of their organisations with their employees and what is sought is to define a clear cut way where this could be achieved.

As we commented earlier in these columns private sector salaries have been a sore point with their colleagues in the public service. By the same token the private sector lament that they are subjected to taxes which are exempt from public sector emoluments.

The Government should take into consideration this aspect and try to mitigate the tax burden heaped on the private sector employees as one of the means of dealing with their salary anomalies.

We are not aware if the proposed salary policy for the private sector would include the Free Trade Zone employees who are today a voiceless segment to whom even the basic labour laws are not applicable.

A majority of these employees are being exploited to the hilt both by their employers in the FTZ and outside elements. Some of these young village girls live in cramped hovels rented out by unscrupulous elements where one room is shared by a group in a bid to economise due to their paltry wages.

It would be ideal if some form of solace is offered to these hapless workers in the proposal to be mapped out by the Minister who is known as a friend of the working from his old Leftist days.

The art of osculation

All went well until the stotras were chanted by the priests and at that point the couple decided, true to their custom, to hug and kiss. The Hindu priests were offended by this hugging and kissing and as a result the couple had to appear in Court on a charge of public misbehaviour.

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Issues in Focus:

G 8 Summit - unimpressive, ineffectual and disappointing

The 34th Summit of the Group of Eight (G 8) comprising the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Russia, held last week in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan was unimpressive despite the pre-summit hype.

Full Story

Jaffna academics expose the desperation of dying Ee(vi)laam

One of the authors of UTHR, the intrepid Dr. Rajan Hoole, in a previous article, openly expressed his horror at the crimes that came out of the womb of Jaffna. Warning the Tamils to “Wake Up!” he sounded pessimistic about the outcome of the violence perpetuated by the Tamil Tiger leadership criminalising politics.

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