One of the functions of these committees is to prevent industrial action. In the tea and rubber plantations, where most workers are Tamil-speaking, the management is organising the committees, in collaboration with the police and union officials. At a meeting between union representatives and Labor Minister Seneviratne on May 23 to discuss the committees, one item concerned how to persuade workers to accept the two-day wage sacrifice that the government has demanded for war expenditure. Such discussion is an admission of wide opposition to the wage sacrifice. The meeting also discussed union members manning checkpoints to enable the government to release soldiers for duty on the war front.
Police constables act as coordinators, exercising the actual authority.
OICs have instructed the participants to keep their membership and activities secret. The committees maintain surveillance over unknown visitors to the area, particularly Tamils, and supply information to the police. All Tamil residents must give their details to the local police station. This apparatus is supervised at the highest levels of the government. Kumaratunga has appointed a special Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by Seneviratne.