Michelin has launched a witch-hunt against workers at its tyre factory in Midigama, in southern Sri Lanka. The workers have been fighting to defend their jobs and working conditions amid uncertainty arising from the plant’s sale to Indian firm CEAT.

The factory, which employs more than 1,500 workers, was sold on December 6 last year, with the Indian company to begin operations on June 6. Fearful for their jobs and other conditions under CEAT, workers began a campaign on May 23 and held a powerful protest in front of the factory the following day, demanding job security. Protesting workers accused the leadership of the Inter-Company Employees Union (ICEU), controlled by the ruling Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), of betraying them. 

On May 26, the workers sent their own representatives to the Labour Office in Colombo to discuss their fears. Only then did the workers come to know that the corporation and the ICEU leaders had entered into a deal.

The trade union had reached an agreement with the Michelin Group, under which workers are to receive a flat-rate compensation of just $US650 (around 200,000 rupees), regardless of their seniority or years of service, as payment for their termination by Michelin.

The ICEU, in other words, has accepted a meagre compensation package behind workers’ backs and is forcibly imposing it, without any guarantee of ongoing job security.

Furious over this betrayal by the ICEU, led by Wasantha Samarasinghe, a minister in the JVP/National People’s Power (NPP) government, workers decided to continue the struggle to defend their jobs and working conditions, independently of the union.

Under these conditions, Michelin has unleashed a witch-hunt, aimed at suppressing the struggle by intimidating workers. On May 28, the company sent a text message to each worker, stating that workers “cannot withdraw from their assigned duty during working time (including overtime) without the permission of a supervisor.”

The company also warned against “protests, strikes and demonstrations, etc., within the factory premises or outside, circulation of false information about the company inside or outside with bad faith, and acting to disrupt operations in the factory, members’ [workers’] safety and productivity through violation of company policies and [the] law.”

The message threatened “disciplinary actions, including sacking,” against any worker involved in such actions. The company’s threats are directed against the basic democratic right of workers to engage in protests, strikes and demonstrations to raise their demands.

The company did not specify what inaccurate “information about the company” had supposedly been circulated by workers. This is a clearly false accusation against workers.

Putting its warning into action, Michelin management suspended a worker named M.M.S. Karunasena on May 30, accusing him of “involvement in misconduct which is not suitable for a member.”

The letter referred to an “initial inquiry into misconduct carried out by a group of members of the Midigama factory during the period from night shift on 23.05.2025 to the night shift on 26.05.2025, including illegal strikes, to disrupt the company’s production operations and industrial peace.” The company has stated that “a formal inquiry will be held on this” and he “has been suspended temporarily without pay.”

The letter does not specifically mention what “misconduct” Karunasena was allegedly involved in. Moreover, the company’s threatening text messages indicate that it includes in this category legitimate industrial actions, such as the May 23 protest workers held in defence of their jobs.

Michelin’s provocative witch-hunt is a preparation for a broader crackdown. Management’s real concern is that workers are beginning to take matters into their own hands, outside the stranglehold of the ICEU bureaucracy.

Workers told the World Socialist Web Site that Karunasena was among the delegation that met the Labour Commissioner in Colombo. They strongly believe that he has been singled out because he is leading the workers’ independent struggle. 

Upon learning of Karunasena’s suspension in the afternoon of May 30, Michelin workers immediately stopped work and started a factory occupation, demanding the withdrawal of the company’s witch-hunting action.

After learning that such suspension letters had been sent to three other workers who joined the delegation to meet the Labour Commissioner, workers demanded the immediate withdrawal of all suspensions. Workers also blocked the factory manager and management staff from the human resources department from leaving the premises. 

Underscoring the provocative aim of these suspensions, a police jeep approached the factory at around 4 p.m. on May 30. However, they did not attempt to intervene, likely fearing a backlash from the angry workers occupying the factory.

At around 5 p.m., workers allowed management staff to leave the premises. At about 6.30 p.m., workers ended their occupation and left the factory. At that time, factory security officers attempted to take the three other suspended workers into custody. However, other workers blocked that attempt and escorted their co-workers out safely. At about 7 p.m., police and Special Task Force (STF) officers arrived near the factory.

These developments show that Michelin is preparing a broader witch-hunt against the Midigama factory workers to crush their struggle for job security amid uncertainty over the plant’s future. 

The treacherous role played by the JVP-controlled ICEU leadership has strengthened the hands of Michelin against workers. 

The day after the company’s threatening May 28 text message, ICEU Secretary Janaka Adhikari addressed Michelin workers through a brief audio message, claiming that their jobs will be secured and that his union has worked to get compensation of over 200,000 rupees per worker. 

However, he has failed to show which specific provisions in the Memorandum of Understanding that the union signed with the company have secured workers’ rights under CEAT.  In striking this deal, the ICEU leaders never consulted workers on what demands they wanted to secure from the two companies involved in the sale. Significantly, Adhikari has warned workers not to involve themselves in “unnecessary agitations.” In other words, the ICEU has clearly lined up with Michelin management against the workers’ campaign for their legitimate demands. 

The conclusion Michelin workers need to draw from this betrayal of the ICEU leadership is the need to take the struggle for their rights into their own hands, by forming an action committee democratically elected by rank-and-file workers. Such a committee must be entirely independent from the union bureaucracy, which is functioning as an arm of management, and from the capitalist parties. 

An independent action committee could make a powerful appeal for a joint struggle with the many other workers in Sri Lanka and globally, whose jobs and basic rights are under attack. 

The working class is confronted with a deepening crisis of global capitalism. Workers in Sri Lanka and around the world are facing brutal attacks implemented by governments that are unloading the full burden of the crisis onto ordinary people. 

Sri Lanka’s JVP/NPP government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is implementing harsh austerity measures dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Under that program, over 400 state-owned enterprises are to be restructured and/or privatised, destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs. 

The working class cannot defend their basic rights within the capitalist system and national limits. Midigama Michelin workers need to join with other workers in both the public and private sectors in Sri Lanka, in a united movement of the working class fighting to abolish capitalist rule and establish a government of workers and peasants based on socialist policies. This must form a part of the struggle for socialism internationally.