Financial Times

CB rejects union claims over job losses
The Central Bank last week rejected speculation over the future of Governor Sunil Mendis after a spat between the bank and a trade union over the discontinuation of temporary staff at the EFP section.

Central Bank Deputy Governor W. A Wijewardene dismissed charges from the bank union that the bank had arbitrarily discontinued the services of over 100 employees, and said; “these workers were temporary hands and at no stage promised permanent employment.”

Asked to comment on speculative reports that President Mahinda Rajapakse had asked Mendis to quit over the issue, the top official said, “That’s not true. As far as I know no one has been asked to quit.” Officials at the President’s office were unavailable for comment.

The issue came to the fore after one newspaper reported that the Central Bank Employees Union had accused the Central Bank of sabotaging the government by ending contracts of 175 employees attached to the EPF division and privatising sections of the bank.

The following day the Central Bank dismissed the allegations saying what happened was that the service contract of an outsourced service provider expired on 31st December and that the bank is now in a position to manage EPF efficiently with its permanentstaff.

Wijewardene said that in 1997 – at the request of the universities of Sri Jayawardenepura and Kelaniya – the bank began providing practical training to newly passed-out graduates. “It was an opportunity to provide them training and nothing else. They spend 6-12 months and move on. This has been going on. There was no permanency offered.”

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