News
Strike after strike cripples public utility services
A string of strikes and trade union actions have disrupted public utility services in the past few weeks with more unions threatening to resort to further strikes and protests.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is one such body that has been affected by a key union’s work-to-rule campaign launched in protest against what it claims is the Government’s failure to adopt the union’s future power generation plan which gives more emphasis to coal-power generation.
The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) demands that the Government approve without any further delay the union’s duly prepared and submitted least-cost, long-term power generation expansion plan and that immediate steps should be taken to allocate lands and construct the power plants as a solution to the country’s power crisis.
The union also demands that the Government devise a proper mechanism to provide a subsidy to the CEB so that it can meet the additional cost without absorbing the loss or burdening the consumers. The union also wants the Sri Lanka Electricity Act No. 20 of 2009 amended to ensure that the CEB is administered efficiently.
CEBEU President Saumya Kumarawadu said the work-to-rule campaign would continue at least until their main demand regarding the power plan was met.
The union’s protest action followed a tug-o’-war it had with the Public Utility Commission (PUCSL). The union alleged the PUCSL had rejected or altered the CEBEU’s plan and adopted its own future power generation plan, which favours liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation.
“Although, CEB engineers began their work-to-rule campaign on May 8, they attended to breakdowns after 4.30 pm on working days because of their concern for the flood victims. However from June 6, we stopped attending to breakdowns after 4.30 pm on working days and on weekends and holidays,” he said.
The engineers’ union also warned this week that the country’s main coal power plant at Norochcholai would be shut down from Tuesday unless the authorities provide the environmental clearance certificate. The union claimed that the plant met the required standards. If the certificate was not issued it would render the plant illegal. Coal power generation meets 50 percent of the country’s power demand.
A shut down will compel the CEB to introduce power cuts, media reports quoted Mr. Kumarawadu as warning.
Meanwhile, Labour and Trade Union Relations Ministry Secretary S.A. Nimal Saranatissa said the ministry could intervene only in employer-employee disputes mainly in private and semi-government sectors.
He said the ministry would try to find a solution by speaking to all parties to the dispute and as a last resort would refer the matter for arbitration.
Mr. Saranatissa said the trade union action the CEB engineers had launched was over a policy matter — and not a dispute that had arisen over a breach of an agreement related to their employment.
The dispute could be solved only through negotiations between the Power and Renewable Energy Ministry, the PUCSL and the CEB engineers, he said.
Also affected by trade union action is the postal service. Postal trade unions are demanding the adoption of new procedures with regard to recruitment and promotions, and a halt to ongoing interviews which they claim pose a threat to existing employees.
United Postal Trade Union Convenor Chinthaka Bandara said if their demands were not met they would launch an islandwide strike together with 23 other postal unions from June 11.He claimed the unions represented more than 20,000 employees.
Also set to launch a strike next week are fishermen. If the Government did not bring down diesel prices, they would stop going to the sea, All-Island Multi-Day Trawlers Association president Sujith Samantha warned.
“Fishermen are forced to incur additional fuel costs varying from Rs.150,000 to Rs.300,000, depending on the size of the boat, each time they set sail for fishing.
Because of this additional expenditure on fuel, the fishermen have not enough money to buy other material and items required for multi-day fishing,” he said.
Mr. Samantha demanded that the diesel prices be brought down to Rs. 100.
Meanwhile, the Water Board employees ended their trade union action following talks with Water Supplies Minister Rauff Hakeem. The minister agreed to meet the employees’ demand for a 25 per cent salary increment, though he pointed out that the board had not increased the tariffs in the past six years.
Water Supply Trade Union Joint Alliance Convener Upali Ratnayake said their demand was in keeping with the collective agreement which had stipulated that the salaries should be revised every three years.
He said their salaries were last revised in 2015 with a 30 percent hike and their recent trade union action came after weeks of talks produced little results and the authorities kept on delaying the implementation of the collective agreement.
“Initially the authorities agreed for a 25 percent revision but later they proposed a 20 percent increase. The unions were not agreeable to this,” Mr. Ratnayake said.
Meanwhile, the Railway Unions, which ended their strike action last week, are uncertain about the promises made to them by the authorities.
All Ceylon Railway Union President S.P. Vithanage said the authorities had agreed to increase salaries of station maters, railway controllers, train drivers and supervising management officials and the new salary scales would come into effect in two months.
“If the salaries are not increased by the end of two months, more than 100 trade unions in the railway sector will resume their trade union action,” he warned. He said the unions were also against plans to set up a new governing body to manage the Railway Department. Instead, the authorities should focus on filling more than 7,000 vacancies in the department and make 2,000 casual employees permanent, he said.