President to appoint national level trade union advisory committee

President Maithripala Sirisena has given his consent to appoint a national level Trade Union Advisory Committee under his supervision. The Committee will be headed by the Secretary to the President and the relevant Ministers. The President gave his consent in this regard at a meeting with the representatives of Trade Union Federation for a Just Society, at the President’s Official Residence yesterday. Several demands like, adding the Rs.10,000 allowance to the basic salary, assurance of equal representation for state and private sectors in the National Labour Advisory Council, job permanency for ‘Manpower’ workers serving in Telecom and other Semi- Government Organizations and getting the parliamentary approval for the salary increase of Rs. 2,500 for the private sector employees, were discussed during the meeting. The President was presented a document of proposals by the union representatives. The proposals included the establishment of an independent Public Service Commissions and other independent commissions, re-organization of Salary & Wages Commission, rectifying the anomalies in the Agrahara Insurance scheme, hike in salary increments, solving of transport issues and providing of motor bikes to all public servants. The representatives of the unions drew the President’s attention to the need for appointing of a high level committee to enhance the productivity of the public service.