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Commuters thrown under the train as station masters take on railway authorities
Repeated strike action by trade unions, stern decisions by the authorities and administrative irregularities were the main causes of the derailment of Sri Lanka’s Railway service which this week once again failed the people, including tourists and holidaymakers who planned to spend the long weekend at outstation areas.
Among those badly hit on Thursday were those planning to travel home for the Thai Pongal festival, daily commuters, foreign tourists heading upcountry and local travellers who had made pre-bookings to travel long distance during the long weekend. Especially, for the tourists, it was a bad experience and for their local guides, it was a big embarrassment at a time when new measures are underway to boost tourism. Trains carrying tourists stopped on the track at midnight on Thursday before they reached their final destinations as station masters began their union action.
The station masters’ union justified their action claiming that was the only language the authorities understood and it made them realise that if they took a tough stand, they would draw a response in kind.
Stranded and angry: Commuters seen at Colombo Fort station and at the Koggala railway station. Pix by Kithsiri de Mel and Ranjith Rajapaksha
Railways Station Masters’ Union President Sumedha Somaratne they were forced to resume their strike action on Friday in response to Railways General Manager’s decision to suspend the union’s deputy president Nuwan Ilangasinghe. However, Friday’s strike was called off after Mr. Illangasinghe was reinstated within hours.
Mr. Somaratne said they had ended their 24-hour token strike on Thursday, but it appeared that the authorities were taking arbitrary decisions and had decided to confront the unions.
The union leader said Thursday’s token strike was in protest against authorities’ decision to cancel several trains, including the night mail train, after tickets had been issued to the commuters. As a result, it was the station masters who had to face the brunt of the public anger while they also had to return the money.
He added that even though they called off the strike they would decide on further action after a meeting next week.
Senior Railway officials pointed out the difficulties they faced in meeting the station masters’ demand, saying that the the 160-year-old railway service which was established during the British rule had its own administrative system and work force and therefore the introduction of new payment schemes and circulars would create complications.
The unions, however, said they were compelled to take protest action because administrative issues and the management’s high-handedness towards workers had become stumbling blocks in solving labour problems.
The All Ceylon Railway Union leader SP Vithanage told the Sunday Times commuters were paying a huge price for the Railway management’s sins. He said if the department could correct its mistakes and managed properly, it could become a viable service without being a burden to the government and the people.
“When there is no control or targets set up by the authorities, the employees and the officers turn towards union and struggle to meet their demands. However this too causes more inconvenience to commuters” he said.
He said theirs was a responsible trade union and they would not put the service in trouble.
Meanwhile, engine drivers said they faced difficulties in carrying out their duties when station masters were on strike. They said they also had issues with the management but would not resort to trade union action by inconveniencing commuters.
Locomotive Operating Engineers Union (LOEU) Secretary Indika Dodangoda said internal management issues that favoured certain categories of employees over others were a major cause for strike action.
But the union leader said that when station masters took strike action, it affected other divisions within the department. Therefore, they could not provide a satisfactory service to the people on Thursday.
“We are also unhappy over Thursday’s events which led to an assault by strike supporters. If they strike it’s fine, but they should not sabotage the services,” he said.
Chugging along: In spite of continuous rumbligs in the Railway Dept. a new luxury train was launched on January 9 from Mount Lavinia to Kankasanthurai. Here Transport Minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi is seen on the maiden ride
Mr Dodangaoda said they would also not endorse the manner in which the authorities reacted and the police action after the incident but they had decided to not to take union action and further burden commuters.
A senior Railway operations official said frequent strikes were disrupting their operations and causing losses to the department.
He said they could not even carry out contingency plans to run a few trains when unions resorted to sudden strikes.
The official said the authorities were in a dilemma. If they gave in to the demands of one union, it encouraged other unions also to take strike action to win their demands. In the end it was the commuters who suffered, he said.
Transport Ministry Secretary Monti Ranatunga said the Government had plans to introduce automated ticketing and online ticket booking systems as part of a solution.
He said they would go ahead with the plans to serve the commuters better despite trade unions’ protests.
They were also thinking of recruiting more workers so that they could deploy them during trade union actions to keep the services running.
Mr Ranatunga said they refurbished and deployed new trains to attract tourists and earn more foreign exchange, yet the union actions sabotaged their plans.
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