Railway Locomotive Engineers want two more issues resolved

Two more outstanding issues of the Sri Lanka Railway Locomotive Engineers Union needs to be resolved, despite calling off its four day strike,  a senior member of the Union said.

"Salary code for second grade drivers has not yet been implemented and the process of recruiting new drivers has also been stalled since 2017" said Mr Chandana Lal,the President Locomotive Engineers Union.

"Currently, there are only 250 drivers to manage 390 train turns a day," added Mr. Chandana.  

" Our drivers are under severe stress due to lack of rest time without vacations. Due to lack of drivers, many drivers are unable to attend special family functions or even attend funerals,’,  he further said.

The union is asking the authorities to speed up the recruitment of drivers to the third grade to reduce congestion.

They are hopeful that the upcoming meeting with officials  on June 14 will provide a satisfactory resolution to these two pressing issues.

By Ishu Bandara