Protection of migrant workers’ rights :

Trade union agreements signed

Sri Lanka migrant workers in Arab States should enjoy the full panoply of labour rights, say unprecedented trade union agreements.

The protection of the rights of Sri Lanka migrant workers in Arab States is at the centre of major cooperation agreements signed recently in Colombo by leaders of the Sri Lanka trade unions and their counterparts from Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, three important destination countries for Sri Lanka migrant workers. The agreements are aimed at granting Sri Lanka migrant workers “the full panoply of labour rights included in internationally-recognized standards”.

The text of the agreements, which is based on a model developed under the aegis of the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its Bureau for Workers’ Activities, is the first of its kind covering Asian migrant workers active in Arab States. According to the statistics by the SLBFE, there are over 300,000 Sri Lanka workers in Kuwait, over 75,000 in Jordan and 45,000 in Bahrain.

The signing of the trade union agreements coincides with the ratification of the National Labour Migration Policy by the Cabinet last week, which was formulated through a tripartite consultative process with technical assistance from the ILO. The landmark event reiterates the Government’s commitment in promoting bilateral co-operation in protecting the migrant workers’ rights as clearly articulated in the new National Labour Migration Policy.

Efforts will also be made to encourage governments to ensure the strict supervision and control of activities by recruitment and employment agencies (in conformity with ILO Convention No. 181 on Private Employment Agencies), and subcontractors, as well as eliminating abuse of sponsorship schemes.

Follow-up mechanisms to the agreement include annual evaluation meetings, the preparation of information material on migrant workers’ rights to be made available to would be migrant workers in Sri Lanka and access to trade unions in the countries of destination.

As an immediate result of the agreements, Sri Lanka trade union leaders have been invited by their counterparts in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait to visit the three countries of destination and acquaint themselves of the situation.

The trade unions will also encourage governments in their respective countries to establish tripartite (Employers/Workers/Government) mechanism to address issues related to labour migration.

The four national trade unions in Sri Lanka and their counterparts in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait all belong to the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, the largest global trade union body.

The Colombo agreements have been facilitated by the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities with support by the ILO International Migration Programme in Geneva as part of their global project on Effective Action for Labour Migration Policies and Practices funded by UK-DFID and by the Government of Norway in their support for the promotion of social dialogue.