Railway workers suspend strike scheduled for tomorrow    

 
The Railway strike scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday August 29) has been suspended following a hurriedly-arranged meeting between President Maithripala Sirisena and trade union leaders at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on Monday, Presidential Secretariat officials confirmed.
 
The President has given an assurance to settle salary anomalies of Railway workers within two months after receiving the recommendations of the special 15 member commission appointed by him to propose suitable salary structure for public sector employees including Railway workers, one official said.
 
President of the Railway Station Masters Union Janaka Fernando said that they have decided to postpone their strike indefinitely as the President has promised them that he will personally intervene into railway workers salary anomaly issue and find a redress for them in two months.
 
Meanwhile the special 15 member commission appointed by the President to review existing salary structures of public sector employees and make recommendations towards this end held its maiden meeting at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo yesterday.
 
The Commission has allocated the subject fields and different state institutions among its 15 members to study and submit observations on the salary structures and the nature of the role and responsibilities of the staff of such public services initially, the official said. (Bandula)