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MSC to look into salary anomalies, but TUs say strikes will continue
Several Trade Union (TU) collectives insisted they would not call off their strike actions, despite the appointment of a Ministerial Sub Committee (MSC) to look into salary anomaly issues affecting the public sector.
The MSC was appointed on Friday night, after an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the current wave of strikes was convened by President Maithripala Sirisena. The MSC includes Ministers Mangala Samaraweera, Vajira Abeywardena, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Dr Rajitha Senaratne and Ashok Abeysinghe. The MSC’s first meeting was held last evening. It is expected to hold discussions in the next few days with TUs engaged in strikes.
Most TUs, however, insisted they would continue their strikes. A strike launched by Railway TUs entered its 3rd day yesterday, severely inconveniencing commuters. Only 7 trains operated yesterday. Unions representing Railway engine drivers, guards and station masters were among those who launched the strike. Locomotive Engineers’ Union Secretary Indika Dodangoda said there were no plans to call off their strike. “We are open to discussions and will meet with the MSC, if they invite us. But, we have no plans to call off our strike, till our demands are met,” he told the Sunday Times.
Meanwhile, a strike by University non-academic staff entered its 20th day today (29). The strike has paralysed all academic activities at State universities islandwide. University Trade Union Joint Committee (UTUJC) Co-President Dhammika S. Priyantha said they saw no reason to end their strike. “We don’t see the appointment of yet another committee as a solution to our issue. In fact, such committees created this issue in the first place,” he claimed. He also said about 16,000 non-academic staff members belonging to 27 TUs plan to converge on Colombo on October 3 for a protest demonstration. TUs representing Government Executive Officers, who are also on an indefinite strike, felt betrayed by the appointment of yet another committee, Government Executive Officers’ Joint Committee President Dr Nimal Karunasiri said. An angry Dr Karunasiri noted that TUs had already held a meeting on Friday afternoon with the Secretary to the President, Treasury Secretary, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration and Public Administration Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara to discuss the issue. “We were as flexible as we could be at the discussion and the Government agreed to resolve our issue. But then, they went ahead an appointed another committee. We have seen this before and will not be fooled,” he stressed.