Social Dialgue

Overview

A one year project funded by the EU was launched by the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC), with the objective of developing competencies among the social partners to engage in more meaningful dialogue which would be of mutual value to both parties. Mere competency without opportunities to use it would also be of no value and the project addresses this shortcoming as well.

This project was selected by the EU for funding on the basis that it could be a way forward in promoting active participation of employers and workers in a dialogue which would permeate from the workplace to the national level so that issues which impinge on the performance of business as well as the public service sector would be satisfactorily resolved without undue confrontation and adversarial behaviour.

At the inaugural workshop which took place in March, the EU, the ILO, FES, EFC, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Trade Unions and other interested parties were present and it was clear that there was great support for the project, which is expected to generate enough interest to make it sustainable beyond the initial twelve months which is the duration of the project.

The main activities of the project include producing training and educational materials; conducting training courses; setting up a website; creating networks for the exchange of information; setting up dialogue mechanisms at organizational level and developing case studies of organizations which have field tested the methods advocated by the project for dialogue.

The project envisages testing out methods of dialogue for creating a harmonious working environment and for the resolution of conflicts. The project has a steering committee which brings together the expertise of leading trade unionists and employer representatives who are actively engaged in industrial relations issues assisted by a consultant with expertise in producing materials on dialogue for industrial harmony.

Among the organizations targeted for setting up dialogue mechanisms are three from the public sector and although the unions who were present at the inaugural meeting seemed very positive about the usefulness of such an initiative, there is still confirmation awaited from the State as to its support. Of course, it should be accepted that any initiative which could bring about harmony in public sector institutions and which would avoid disruption of services and loss to the State should be welcomed.

One very significant aspect of the project is its objective of setting up a forum at national level to enable the social partners to share their views on matters of common interest and to lobby government for necessary change.

There are many areas of common interest which have been identified such as roads, water, transport, education, power and health, where it is not only the employees of those services who are affected by decisions of policy makers, but the impact is felt by the whole of society and employers and workers need to understand what goes on and to make known their own views and concerns. The public sector trade unions are anxious to participate in a national forum so that their long standing issues could be better understood by the private sector and the opportunity would be created for a healthy exchange of information which is so vital in a true democracy.

The project will fill a great void in our society created by the lack of interest of civil society to work together on national issues and is a very exciting experiment as it could fire the imagination and enthusiasm of people at the lowest levels of economic life in the country and get their voices heard where it counts!

Anyone interested in obtaining information about the project could contact the co-ordinator of the project Mr. Arunasiri Jayalath at the SLFI.


	This project is funded by the European Union ( Brows of web site )

	www.empfed.lk

	www.fessrilanka.org

	www.slfi.lk