The management of ATG Ceylon, a British-Sri Lankan manufacturer of industrial gloves, terminated five union officers and members with immediate effect on 11 January, even though they were all involved in an arbitration process with the company that was not yet concluded.
The arbitration relates to an incident of September 2015, when pamphlets were placed on the company’s noticeboard announcing a blood donation organised by the union with the health minister to mark the second anniversary of the union. Subsequently, ATG management issued charge sheets against 30 employees. Thus, seven employees, including union officers, were placed under disciplinary proceedings, while a warning letter was issued against other employees.
According to the Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union (FTZ & GSEU), ATG management has also acted in a discriminatory way. For example, in February 2017, the company forced the union to hold a vote to represent workers, despite already having a mandate to do so. Moreover, it refused to give gold medals to union members who had worked for more than five years for the company, although they were given to non-union members as part of the company’s silver jubilee celebrations. When one of the workers resigned from the union, he duly received his medal.
Workers at the plant and the FTZ & GSEU started a protest to demand the immediate reinstatement of the five terminated workers and to call upon the ATG management to engage constructively with the union towards resolving the dispute as soon as possible.
