The Ceylon Federation of Labour (CFL) is an organisation bringing together trade unions in the private, semi-government and co-operative sectors of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

.

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 of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. When the Lanka Sama Samaja Party

Lanka Sama Samaja Party

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka....

 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

General strike

A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...

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

Hartal

Hartal is a term in many Indian languages for strike action, used often during the Indian Independence Movement. It is mass protest often involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, courts of law as a form of civil disobedience...

 of 1953.

Affiliated unions

• All Ceylon Commercial and Industrial Workers' Union (ACCIWU)
• All Ceylon Oil Workers’ Union (ACOWU)
• All Ceylon United Motor Workers' Union
  All Ceylon United Motor Workers' Union
  The All Ceylon United Motor Workers Union is a trade union which organises workers in the passenger bus sector in Sri Lanka. It is affiliated to the Ceylon Federation of Labour .-History:...
  
   (ACUMWU)
• Lanka Estate Workers' Union (LEWU)
• Lanka Hotel Employees Union (LHEU)
• United Corporations and Mercantile Union
  United Corporations and Mercantile Union
  The United Corporations and Mercantile Union is a Sri Lankan trade union which brings together workers in the public sector.The UCMU was founded in 1968. Dr N.M. Perera became its President and Anil Moonesinghe became its General Secretary. Moonesinghe travelled the country from factory to...
  
   (UCMU)
• United Port Workers Union (UPWU)

Noted leaders

• Dr N.M. Perera
• Dr Colvin R de Silva
• D.G. William ('Galle Face' William)
• W.P. Perera ('Elephant' Perera)
• Batty Weerakoon
• S. Siriwardena