The Ceylon Federation of Labour (CFL) is an organisation bringing together

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in the private, semi-government and co-operative sectors of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

History

The Ceylon Federation of Labour was registered as a federation of unions by the Workers & Peasants Union, which was led by the Radical Party under the influence of the ideas of

M.N. Roy Manabendra Nath Roy (born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, better known as M. N. Roy; 21 March 1887 – 25 January 1954) was a 20th-century Indian revolutionary, philosopher, radical politics, radical activist and political philosopher, political th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. When the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...

re-commenced its trade union activity in the post-war period, it did so in co-operation with the Workers & Peasants Union and gradually took over leadership of the CFL by 1946. The CFL was involved in the

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

of 1946 and its successor of 1947. It was the prime mover in the

hartal Hartal () is a term in many Languages of India, Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often ...

(strike) of 1953.

Affiliated unions

* All Ceylon Commercial and Industrial Workers' Union (ACCIWU) * All Ceylon Oil Workers’ Union (ACOWU) * All Ceylon United Motor Workers' Union (ACUMWU) * Lanka Estate Workers' Union (LEWU) * Lanka Hotel Employees Union (LHEU) * United Corporations and Mercantile Union (UCMU) * United Port Workers Union (UPWU)

Notable leaders

* N.M. Perera * Colvin R de Silva

References

Batty Weerakoon, The Ceylon Federation of Labour & the Trade Union Movement in Sri Lanka (1932-1975), (abridged version)
accessed on 4 November 2005.

accessed 4 November 2005.

accessed 4 November 2005. *

James Jupp James Jupp AM (23 August 1932 – 11 April 2022) was a British-Australian political scientist and author. He was Director of the Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Studies in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian Nati ...

, ''Sri Lanka — Third World Democracy'', Frank Cass, London, 1978. Trade unions in Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-stub