Michelin Workers in Sri Lanka Protest Secret Union Deal Amid Factory Sale and Job Fears

At Michelin’s tyre factory in Midigama, Sri Lanka, workers held a massive protest after the French company announced they were selling the factory to India’s CEAT. CEAT will take over operations on June 6. The factory has been operating since 1984 and has over 1,500 employees who currently manufacture bias tires and tracks for construction equipment.

The recent sale, accomplished in December of last year, consisted of the Midigama Tyre Division, Casting Product Division and the Camso brand upon the conclusion of their total three-year licence. Employees are worried that the new ownership will not honour their contracts and threaten their pay and job security.

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The protesting workers insisted on job security and accused the Inter-Company Employees Union (ICEU), under the control of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), of betrayal. The workers did not find out, until they complained to the Labour Office in Colombo, that union leaders had made a secret agreement with Michelin. The agreement includes a one-time payout of only $650, regardless of seniority or time worked, and there is no job security under CEAT.

The Labour Commissioner sided with the union and refused to speak to any representatives of the workers. ICEU Secretary Janaka Adhikari dismissed the protests, claiming that the workers had been “misled” and that the union signed a memorandum to protect jobs and that the workers were never consulted.

This extraordinary union betrayal occurs against the backdrop of broader austerity measures under the JVP/NPP government aligned with IMF policy, which has justified the closure of factories, such as the Next apparel factory, whose closure resulted in mass layoffs.

The Socialist Equality Party has encouraged workers to create independent committees not under union or government direction to collectively fight for their rights, pay and job security against big business greed, government austerity and union complicity.

The experience of Michelin workers exemplifies the serious contradictions between labor rights, political objectives and economic realities in Sri Lanka currently.