ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s port trade unions have protested the increase of female gantry crane operators despite the port employing only 10 females working in the role, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation, Nimal Siripala De Silva said.
“I want to recruit them but these people are saying there are other people who have been working in the harbor for a long time they must be upgraded without taking ladies,” De Silva told reporters on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka currently has only 10 female gantry crane operators, however, the Ministry of Ports has been attempting to increase the female labor force among gantry workers at the insistence of the International Labor Organization, which suggested that Sri Lanka practice gender equality in its ports.
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Sri Lanka port faces union opposition in increasing female workers: Minister
“These ladies are surviving [in this environment] and working. They are very perfect workers,” De Silva said.
The International Organization for Migration paid approximately 500,000 rupees for the training of these female workers. (Colombo/Jul3/2024)