University non-academic unions seek meeting with new minister to discuss salary anomaly
View(s):University non-academic staff unions say they are hoping to meet the new Higher Education Minister, Bandula Gunawardena, within the next two weeks to discuss their salary anomaly issue.
Dhammika S. Priyantha, co-president of the University Trade Union Joint Committee (UTUJC), told the Education Times that they had asked the new minister for a meeting and had been promised one within the next two weeks.
The unions want an assurance that the new government would honour an agreement reached with the previous administration to rectify the salary anomaly issue.
“We are yet to have a permanent solution to our problem. We are not prepared to back down from our demands and hope the new government will address them,” he said.
Trade unions representing university non-academic staff engaged in a month-long strike that crippled all activities at universities island-wide from September to October over the long-standing salary anomaly issue. Mr Priyantha would not rule out another strike by unions in the new year if the new government failed to resolve the issue. (SJ)