CPC strike called off

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) unions yesterday called off their strike following a written assurance given to them by Presidential Advisor on Trade Union matters Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra to provide a solution to their problem within a two week time frame.

"During our discussion with Premachandra yesterday he pledged to provide a solution to our grievance within two weeks," Convenor of the CPC Trade Union Alliance Lakshman Ananda told the Daily Newslast night.

Meanwhile, Petroleum Resources Minister A. H. M. Fowzie yesterday described the strike action launched by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) unions as extremely unreasonable which he said amounted to a direct challenge to an appointment made by the President in terms of the powers vested in him.

At present the only demand made by the unions is to remove the newly appointed Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd (CPSTL) Ashantha De Mel.

The President was only filling a vacancy in the Chairman's post at the CPSTL,the Minister told the media at his Ministry yesterday.

Minister Fowzie said: "If the President cannot appoint a chairman to an institution which comes under his purview, what is the position of the country's Executive President. These unions attempt to curb the powers vested in the President."

"If we allow trade unions to act according to their will, tomorrow they will demand that the country's President too be removed. We cannot allow them to continue this kind of unreasonable trade union action," he said.

The Minister said he held several rounds of lengthy discussions with the CPC unions yesterday. "What I requested at the discussion was to let the newly appointed CPSTL Chairman take up functions and allow two weeks time to submit facts to the President and take a decision in this regard. But the trade unions opposed it.Their only ambition was to insist to cancel this appointment made by the President.

According to Minister Fowzie this is a challenge to an appointment made by the President. In a situation where the Government has fulfilled a number of demands of CPC employees giving them a 23 per cent salary increase and a Rs. 5000 bonus, this strike launched by the CPC unions has become a joke.

The country's economy has been affected while the commuters have to suffer due to this unreasonable demand taken by these trade unions, he said. The Minister said he is scheduled to submit a Cabinet Paper at today's Cabinet meeting to merge the CPC with the CPSTL.

When these two institutions are merged, it will come under one unit and have a single Chairman. At present the CPC and CPSTL functions as two big institutions. Hence the President has appointed a new chairman to the CPSTL as a means of tackling fraud and waste. "The Government has no intention whatsoever to privatise the CPC or any Government institution.

The sole intention of the Government is to further strengthen these institutions. Therefore, I request the CPC employees not to accept this strike launched by the CPC unions," the Minister said.