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Effect of Trade Unions

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Effect of Trade Unions
Country Report on the

Trade Union Situation in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Office:
No.4, Adams Avenue, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka. Phone: 94 1 502 710, Fax: 94 1 502727 e-mail: office@fessrilanka.org Website: http://www.fessrilanka.org

Sri Lanka
Labour force: 7.2 million
25-29 30-39 40+ 15.5 16.8 6.5

.

Labour force participation rate by age and sex
Age All ages 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 40+ Total % 51.7 25.2 68.7 71.6 71.8 54.9 Male % 67.9 30.6 83.3 95.3 96.9 76.5 Female % 35.9 35.9 54.0 51.6 48.8 34.2

Average working hours
Basic work-time is eight hours a day (excluding rest and meal breaks), Monday-Friday and halfday on Saturday. Forced overtime is common (average four hours a day in EPZs and in most export sector industries). Many industrial and agricultural workers work even a seven-day week.

Number of registered functioning unions:
Around 1500

Distribution of employed persons by industry (%)
Agriculture Manufacturing Trade & Hotels Services Others 37.0 16.8 13.5 15.8 17.8

Unionisation rate: Around 12 to 15 percent of the total workforce

Number of strikes, workers involved and man days lost, 1996 - 1999
Item 1996 1997 1998 1999

Composition of employed population
Employees Employers Own account workers Unpaid family workers 57.9 3.1 26.9 12.1

Total Strikes(1) 224 156 122 125

Workers 75,197 57,632 43,343 42,346 involved Man-days 388,917 325,477 265,145 304,246 lost Plantation Strikes(1) 137 78 63 42

Unemployment rate
The official unemployment rate is just under ten percent (excluding war areas, underemployment and the informal sector). The real unemployment rate is much higher

Workers 50,982 27,383 15,468 16,018 involved Man-days 220,131 100,406 83,319 41,195 lost Others Strikes(1) 87 78 59 83

Distribution of unemployed population by age
Age 15-19 20-24 Percentage 15.6 45.6

Workers 24,215 30,249 27,875 26,328 involved Man-days 168,786 225,071 181,826 263,051 lost Source - Department of Labour

(1) The number of
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