Sri Lanka’s government faces backlash for a proposed labor law that abolishes the 8-hour workday, expands employer power, and restricts union rights triggering outrage from trade unions and workers’ advocates.
Sri Lanka’s working class is bracing for a major blow as the National People’s Power (NPP)-led government pushes forward a controversial Cabinet proposal to amend the country’s labor laws abolishing the eight-hour workday and imposing sweeping restrictions on trade union rights. The move, critics say, is a betrayal of workers’ hard-won rights in exchange for International Monetary Fund (IMF) backing amid the island nation’s economic recovery.
At a press conference in Nugegoda, Duminda Nagamuwa, Propaganda Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party and a senior figure in the People’s Struggle Alliance, blasted the proposal, accusing the NPP of prioritizing IMF interests over the welfare of the people who elected them.
“The government is rushing this bill through Cabinet to destroy the labor protections Sri Lankans fought for, just weeks after celebrating May Day with grand speeches,” Nagamuwa said. “This single labor law will undo the eight-hour workday and strip workers of their voice.”
According to Nagamuwa, the bill originally introduced under Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister Manusha Nanayakkara is now being embraced by the JVP-led administration, which once opposed similar measures. A special committee has already been appointed to facilitate its implementation.
The bill, if enacted, will allow employers to demand 15–20-hour workdays under the pretext of flexible scheduling. While Sri Lanka’s existing labor law caps work at 45 hours a week eight hours a day on weekdays and five hours on Saturdays the proposed changes would permit workweeks compressed into three or four grueling days, with up to 16 hours of labor per day. Current limits cap daily work (including overtime) at 12 hours.
Labor advocates warn that this shift could force struggling workers to juggle multiple jobs just to survive, further deepening the cycle of exhaustion and exploitation. The new law also opens the door for individuals to sign unlimited work contracts across different employers something previously restricted to one job per worker.
Even more concerning are the restrictions being placed on collective labor rights. The threshold for forming a trade union is set to rise from seven workers to 100, effectively eliminating union representation in small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, thousands of workplaces will no longer have the legal protection of organized labor.
To make matters worse, under the proposed amendments, workers must notify their employer 30 days in advance before launching a strike rendering spontaneous labor action impossible. This clause is seen as a direct attack on workers’ ability to protest sudden dismissals or unfair treatment.
“The government is stripping away the power of trade unions to resist exploitation,” said Nagamuwa. “Even if 100 employees are willing to form a union, they’ll be gagged by impossible conditions.”
Critics say the bill is being quietly fast-tracked to align with IMF austerity conditions, despite widespread public backlash. They argue that it not only undermines decades of progress in labor rights but also places disproportionate pressure on workers to shoulder the burden of Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic collapse a crisis caused not by the working class but by political mismanagement and elite corruption.
As the bill moves forward, union leaders and social justice advocates are calling on citizens, particularly JVP trade unionists like Mahinda Jayasinghe, to reject the proposal and stand with workers.
The legislation, if passed, will fundamentally alter the labor landscape in Sri Lanka weakening collective bargaining, extending working hours, and pushing low-income workers toward multiple part-time jobs under exploitative conditions.
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