Labour Advisory Council for workers

The inaugural meeting of the National Labour Advisory Council for 2009 was held at the Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower under the patronage of Minister Athauda Seneviratne on January 22.

This Council is the main body that formulates national labour policies and consists of representatives from the State, employees and employers in Sri Lanka. Addressing the inaugural meeting, Minister Athauda Seneviratne emphasised the importance of conducting monthly meetings of the Council regularly throughout this year.

Sri Lanka is also faced with the fallout of the world economic recession. This will adversely affect our unemployment rate and the salary structure too, the Minister said. "We must initiate a programme to educate all those concerned on these crises. It must be a broad based strategy, the Minister said. Matters relating to Cost of Living Allowance paid to the private sector and the proposed amendments to labour regulations were also discussed.