Some trade unionists present at a 28 April forum told the ‘Business Times’ (BT) that the Labour Department is one place infested with bribery and corruption where decisions against the workers could be manipulated.

During the discussion, Leon Joseph, Secretary, National Free Trade Union pointed out that in one incident there were 350 workers taken to hospital, 100 were treated in-house, three were treated in the intensive care and one died.

The medical officer who held the post-mortem on the death of the worker ruled that the death was due to natural causes, but when the family of the worker protested and a second post-mortem was held, a completely different verdict was returned.

This shows the extent of corruption and even such professionals like medical officers could be influenced. Mr Joseph said that most of the employers do not want to reveal these accidents and in many instances they try to hide them as they are usually caused due to their negligence.

More: The Sunday Times Sri Lanka