Karuna, journo attacks in US petition

• US TO INVITE TRADE UNION REPS
• 'UNION LEADERS THREATENED'

Sri Lanka’s judiciary has, in several recent cases, enjoined (stopped) otherwise legal strikes in the public sector in response to complaints from third party litigants ‘with no legally cognizable stake in the labour dispute’, states the petition the US government is now considering on Sri Lanka’s labour situation for grant of US GSP trade concession rights.
The petition also claims that trade union leaders have been threatened, and also contains references related to labour issues concerning child soldiers, the LTTE, the Karuna faction, government, attacks against journalists and uncompensated overtime.
The US government is currenlty taking into consideration this scathing petition filed by a powerful international federation of trade unions against labour practices in Sri Lanka, as part of an annual review of US General System of Preferences (GSP) concessions to Sri Lanka.
The petition, filed by the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), paints a bleak picture of the labour sector in Sri Lanka and alleges the country is ‘non-compliant’ with several ILO conventions.
In a press release on the latest development, the Rajagiriya-based Trade Union Confederation said that the US government, before accepting the petition, had held extensive, high-level consultations with government representatives, trade unions and apparel sector employer organisations over the last 18 months. Therefore, the decision to conduct the review is not ad hoc. “It’s based on credible and verifiable evidence presented,” the statement said.
It is learnt that several Sri Lankan trade union representatives will be invited by the US government to participate at a public hearing to be held in this regard next month. It is understood that their expenses will be borne by the US government.