Railway employees gear for strike action
Railway employees issued a warning to the Minister of Transport, Kumara Welgama, yesterday, saying they would stage an island wide, 56-hour, token strike on 22 January unless their salary anomalies are settled.
Speaking to Ceylon Today, convener of the Joint Trade Union Alliance (JTUA) of railway employees, Janaka Fernando, said they were expecting to launch a 56-hour token strike from midnight 22 January till 6 a.m. on 24 January unless their salary issues are settled. Fernando pointed out that they had hoped to launch their strike on 9 January, but decided to postpone the strike as the Minister of Transport had pledged to facilitate a discussion with the Presidential Secretariat and officials of the Salaries and Cadres Commission in a bid to find a solution to their salary issues.
"We were supposed to have discussions with the president's secretary, Lalith Weeratunga, and other officials before 10 January. However, so far we have not been given any opportunity to meet and discuss our issues," he said.
He pointed out that salaries of railway employees have not been increased over a long period of time and as such, they have had to face many difficulties.
"We request that salaries be increased up to Railway Management Staff (RMS) 1 and RMS 2. Our salaries need to be increased by 10% to 15%," he explained, adding that approximately 3,000 railway employees including engine drivers, station masters, railway guards, railway technicians and foremen will participate in the strike.
Category: Local
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