Lightning rail strike
 

by Sheela Uduwara

Thousands of commuters were inconvenienced yesterday as engine drivers launched a lightning go-slow campaign from the early hours of the morning.

More than 50 trains out of 80 were cancelled yesterday morning as a result of their trade union action. These included the main long distance office trains such as Samudra Devi and many express trains from Puttalam, Aluthgama, Vavuniya and Anuradhapura. The Colombo-Kandy Intercity Express was also not operated.

Most office workers had to return home as they could not get into the limited number of buses on the main routes. The Samudra Devi alone carries more than 3,000 passengers. Transport Minister Felix Perera has directed railway authorities to explore the possibility of employing fully qualified assistant drivers to run the trains in view of the engine drivers strike.

The Locomotive Operating Engineers Union said they were resorting to trade union action to win four demands.

They are: the recognition of drivers' service as a separate service; a new salary structure; the granting of incentives, already granted to other grades, to engine drivers; and the use of the word 'pilot' instead of 'driver'. A discussion in this connection was held between Transport Minister Felix Perera and railway trade unions. The Union said they launched the go-slow after the discussion ended in failure.

The Union also requests that technical problems in the engines be rectified as these engines cannot be operated safely.