Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: State of the Economy 2005 Post-Tsunami Economic Issues 14.

Decent Work: A National Action Plan for Sri Lanka 14.1 What is Decent Work? The decent work agenda was adopted in

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1999 by the International Labour

Organization (ILO) tripartite constituents (governments, employers and trade unions) to address the decent work deficit. Decent work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social

integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.

It is important to understand what is meant by decent work. The ILO defines decent work as that based on the realities, values and goals of a given society. But it is a dynamic concept, the content of which evolves with social and economic progress of a given country. This definition looks at decent work in terms of work and employment which encompasses universal rights and values and goals of a given society. The ILO is focused towards providing decent and productive work for both men and women under conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Rights at work extend to all workers, including the self-employed, casual and informal and hidden workers such as women.

14.2 How to Achieve Decent Work While focusing on promoting decent work along the continuum of the informal to formal economy, the ILO agenda (in dealing with decent work) places much emphasis on gender equality and development issues. In order to achieve the goal of promoting decent work, the ILO considers four strategic objectives, namely; achieving fundamental principles and rights at work; creation of greater employment and income opportunities for women and men; extending social protection; and promoting social dialogue.

At the Thirteenth Asian Regional Meeting of August 2001, it was concluded that member states in the region should define a National Plan of Action for Decent Work through a
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tripartite process. This process was to aim at integrating fundamental rights at work, more decent work opportunities for men and women, social protection and increased social dialogue. These issues are discussed below.

14.2.1 Achieving Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work In 1998, the International Labour Conference adopted the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its follow up. This declaration is a pledge to respect, promote and realize the freedom to associate and the right to collective bargaining, the prohibition of forced or compulsory labour, abolition of child labour and elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.

The ILO also plays a role in promoting the Declaration. Promotion of this nature is directed towards raising awareness regarding the Declaration at different levels such as national, regional and international; to provide understanding of its impact on development in various aspects; and to promote the necessary policies which will implement such principles. Media and educational campaigns, research, policy advice, social reviews are among some of the methods to be utilized in achieving awareness. In addition to promoting the Declaration, the ILO will have a role with regard to follow up action on the Declaration.

The ILO believes in rights for everyone at work and has been committed to providing equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women at work. In addition to existing instruments relating to gender equality,1 the International Labour Conference has adopted three more instruments relevant to women and children: The Home Work Convention (No. 177) and Recommendation (No. 184) in 1996; The Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in 1998;

Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), adopted in 1951, Maternity Protection Convention (revised), 1952 (No.103), Discrimination in Employment and Occupation Convention (No.111), adopted in 1958, Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention (No.156), adopted in 1981 and Part-time Convention (No.175), adopted in 1994.

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The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention adopted in June 1999 and which calls for account to be taken of the special situation of girls.

14.2.2 Promoting Employment and Income Opportunities The ILO has a goal to achieve full, productive and freely chosen employment. The focus here is on the provision of sufficient numbers of jobs for men and women that are of decent quality. Quality of employment depends on a variety of factors including, but not limited to wage, regularity of employment, intensity of work, occupational risk, social status attached to job are among some such factors.

It is also important to help women in the labour market by reducing occupational segregation by sex. This can be achieved through provision of policies for childcare and other services, affirmative action and equal opportunity programmes and increased training and education for women in non traditional subjects.

Another problem faced by women that should be addressed is lack of training opportunities once in employment. This is due to women being considered a risk in terms of investment, more women being in informal sector employment where prospects of training are poor and many other reasons. This could be dealt with by setting quotas for girls in different types of training programmes, making way for persons with family responsibilities to enter the labour market, provision of support services for women to help secure and keep employment and many other such options.

While gender related issues are important in promoting income and employment opportunities, it is also necessary to focus upon income generation in low-income groups. Some ILO policies in this regard include raising the production capabilities in small urban and rural enterprises and methods to increase labour absorption in the rural economy. It is also possible to generate employment through development of infrastructure. This generates employment and utilizes the services of small units comprised of poor workers. Such schemes would be beneficial in terms of employment as
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well as improved infrastructure facilities for the poor. The government can contribute to employment generation through investment in social services. Such actions would have long term implications for a healthy and educated society, thus making way for increased productivity in the economy. 14.2.3 Extending Social Protection Social protection encompasses the prevention of work related accidents and other such occupational hindrances. Basic security and protection is very important to ensure decent work but in some countries many workers lack access to minimum levels of social and income security. The ILO plays a role in providing advice and training to relevant authorities in order to ensure long term economic and financially viable social protection networks.

With regards to possible measures that can be taken relating to women in order to attain equality of treatment include health care for pregnant women and mothers, maternity leave, childcare systems and more. Women are more prone to health affects due to their dual reproductive and economic roles. A large number of women world wide are infected with HIV and AIDS. Persons infected with the virus are discriminated against when seeking employment and it is, therefore, important to provide protection and prevent spread of the virus. In situations where there is a lack of a formal system of social security, it might be best to delegate the responsibility to local communities. This would help include the participation of women, the disabled and other such groups which are likely to be left out.

14.2.4 Promoting Social Dialogue Social dialogue is to provide reconciliation among groups and persons with differing interests in the work place. It is possible to promote decent work for men and women and remove gender based inequities through social dialogue. It is important to have women participate at these dialogues and make their voices heard.

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The role of the ILO should also be to advocate social dialogue and thereby help employers and workers understand the value of positive labour-relations, strengthen social partners, provide links with civil society and also highlight the successful use of social dialogue in traditional and new purposes.

14.3 Action Plan for Sri Lanka and its Relevance The Decent Work Country Programme is a framework in which the government, employers and workers organizations agree to work together towards achieving decent work in Sri Lanka. A broader National Plan of Action for Decent Work is being developed under the Ministry of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment.2

Under this programme the main challenges and priority areas of action for Sri Lanka have been identified and discussed. Some of the main challenges in addressing the issue of rights at work include the lack of complete accessibility to core ILO Conventions relating to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, the prevalence of child labour and also the glass ceiling in existence for women. Priority areas of action in dealing with these issues involve conducting studies and supporting the Labour Department in order to enforce freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, supporting employers and workers in having good work place practices, making way for diversity and equal employment principles, improving compliance with international buyers, promoting the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises & Social Policy and also providing support to the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) to eliminate such abuses.

The main challenges to overcome constraints in employment generation in Sri Lanka include low productivity, challenges of competition faced by the export sector, the existence of weak labour market institutions, high unemployment, little access to formal

As in Decent Work Country Programme Sri Lanka 2004-2008 (ILO)

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sector employment for certain groups, loss of employment as a result of labour reforms, privatization and factory closure and also the social and economic problems faced by the conflict affected north and east of the country. The necessary priority areas of action include reducing youth unemployment through an efficient youth employment network, generation of employment opportunities in the north and east, better quality and more effective training, institutions and programmes, quality job creation in small and medium enterprises, programmes to help vulnerable groups integrate in to the labour market, strategies to deal with job losses (especially in the garments sector), improvement of work condition in the plantation sector and the creation of diversified employment opportunities within the sector.

Challenges under the social protection for all objective includes risk of social exclusion, constraints of existing social security schemes, lack of old age security for a large part of the population, lack of proper working conditions and wages for workers and lack of access to protection for migrant workers. These challenges are to be met by an unemployment insurance scheme for workers affected by labour reforms, provision of support for excluded groups, provision of occupational safety and health programmes and protection for sub contracting work arrangements and migrant workers.

Finally, the need for social dialogue faces problems relating to the inability of the tripartite partners to participate in broader policy making, practices at the workplace (confrontational) and low participation rates of women in tripartite institutions. In dealing with these issues, it is important that the Ministry of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment play a key role with regard to social and economic planning, support the tripartite consultative mechanism to foster labour and social policy issues, promote strengthened trade union action, increased participation of gender in tripartite institutions and increased representation of employers and workers organizations.

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Having mentioned the priority areas of action above, it is also important to state that the monitoring of progress of the activities will be carried out by means of quarterly and annual review meetings and other such review mechanisms.

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