Abstract:
Observations indicate that, the majority of both private and public sector organizations in
Sri Lanka have trade unions and a higher percentage of the workforce has some form of
trade union membership. Majority of the trade unions in these organizations are branches of
main trade unions affiliated to leading political parties. As it is found in this study on
reasons for unionization and impact of their politicalization, a multiplicity of trade unions is
in operation in the selected state organizations. This has been mainly due to people having
various motives to fulfil through trade unions and in addition due to their affiliation to
achieve objectives of political parties. Situations prevailing in the selected organizations are
not for the wider interests of the workers and are also harmful in considering the objectives
of the trade union movement in general. This has created a negative feeling among the
workers about the trade unions and it is implied when looking at their reasons for
unionization. As such it has become necessary to pioneer efforts in bringing the trade union activities to the right track especially in the South Asian context, for the trade unions to be
contributory to the employee welfare and national development. The study proposes certain
measures based on the observations in bringing the country’s trade union movement to the
right path.
