ABSTRACT
The December 2004 Tsunami, caused by the second largest earthquake ever registered, had a devastating impact on the eastern and southern coasts of the island. In Sri Lanka, 35,322 people were killed, over 5000 went missing, and 516,150 were internally displaced (ILO 2005). The most affected were the women and children of poor fishing families. The humanitarian response was overwhelming (World Bank 2006), but it also highlighted the complexities of ethnonationalist politics in responding to the victims of disasters. In 2007, there was an over-provisioning of houses in the affected areas in the South, particularly in the home district of the President, while in the eastern province less than half the required houses were built. Among the contributors to this humanitarian effort domestically were trade unions. While most trade unions made very public donations to the government’s reconstruction fund, others worked directly with the victims. Among those that engaged in this direct intervention were the FTZ Workers’ Union, comprising mostly young, migrant female workers.
