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UN pressure sought to protect FTZ workers

31 May 2021

By Pamodi Waravita   A total of eight civil society organisations and trade unions have made an appeal to the United Nations (UN) to take immediate steps to pressure the Government of Sri Lanka and factory owners in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in the country to protect FTZ workers not just as essential workers, but also as frontline workers. The Commercial and Industrial Workers’ Union (CIWU), Katunayake-based Dabindu Collective Sri Lanka, the Revolutionary Existence for Human Development (RED), Standup Movement Lanka, the National Union of Metal and Migrant Workers in Sri Lanka (NUMMS), the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka (NUSS), the Sramabimani Kendraya in Seeduwa, and the Textile, Garment, and Clothing Workers’ Union (TGCWU) have written regarding the matter to the UN and international brands that manufacture in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the six demands of the workers are that there be a shutdown of all factories for two weeks to carry out PCR testing on all workers, the prioritisation of all workers for Covid-19 vaccination, the isolation of patients who test positive for the virus and their first contacts in quarantine centres, to ensure that workers who are in quarantine are not deprived of their wages, to ensure the Rs. 5,000 monthly relief packs to all workers, and to ensure the health and safety within all factories. In October 2020, a Covid-19 cluster was identified in the Katunayake FTZ, causing many workers’ rights groups to raise their concerns about how the spread of the pandemic in the FTZ could put over 50,000 workers at risk, and noting also the crowded living conditions of workers’ hostels and their need to report to work in multiple factories.  

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