Women workers in parts of Sri Lanka work long hours for little pay and may be subject to sexual harassment. UnionAID has partnered with the Free Trade Zones and General Service Employees Union (FTZGSEU) two run a two year project in Sri Lanka to organise and support these women workers.
It is primarily focussed on the tea plantations and garment factories of the northern and eastern provinces. These provinces have seen a rapid expansion in garment factories under the Government’s recently established Free Trade Zones. The project aims to develop a support network among women workers and ultimately organize them so they can raise their voices against discrimination and achieve better work and better wages.
This project with the FTZGSEU was completed in December 2015.
Women workers in Sri Lanka march for better conditions
Guest Lecture: Working life in Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zones
Guest Lecture: Working life in Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zones Veteran Sri Lankan trade union leader Anton Marcus will give a lunch time lecture about the struggle of workers in Sri ...
Read moreTamil tea pickers face wildlife threats at work
Leeches, wasps, and wild animals such as boars and leopards are some of the hazards faced by women tea pickers in Sri Lanka. If that’s not enough, they are also exposed ...
Read moreReport on work conditions for women in Sri Lanka
The first part of our project organising women workers in Sri Lanka has been completed with the publication of a report detailing conditions in the tea plantations and factories of ...
Read more800 Tamil workers organised
Union membership is now 100 percent in two of the five factories organised under the UnionAID Sri Lankan partnership project with the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union ...
Read moreSri Lanka project off to a good start
Our new project in Eastern Sri Lanka has got off to an active start with the organisation of workers in the Trendsetters garment factory. The project, organised by our partners the ...
Read moreSolidarity, Summer 2011
The sixth issue of Solidarity, the newsletter of the Unions Aotearoa International Development Trust, is available below. This issue introduces new projects in Sri Lanka and the Pacific, as well ...
Read moreNew projects in Sri Lanka, Mae Sot and the Pacific
UnionAID has had an active few months developing new project options. A new project in Sri Lanka, starting in the new year, will establish a Women’s Centre in Eastern Sri Lanka ...
Read moreProject priorities for 2011
UnionAID has established the following priorities for our project work in 2011: 1. The FTUB Mae Sot project The establishment of the skills training centre for Burmese migrant workers is our first priority ...
Read moreRoss Wilson talking about UnionAID on Radio New Zealand, 24 October 2010
Ross Wilson talking to Chris Laidlaw on Radio NZ’s Sunday Morning Ideas show, 24 October 2010 (Labour Day).
Read moreBuilding bridges in Sri Lanka
A new UnionAID project is currently being piloted in Sri Lanka which seeks to build relationships, and community activity, across ethnic groups who have been divided by the bitter civil ...
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