Token strike by trade unions, SC issues show cause notice

Wasantha Ramanayake

COLOMBO: The Supreme Court yesterday issued show cause notice on five trade union leaders to appear before the court today to explain as to why they had engaged in a token strike yesterday in violation of the court orders that restrained them from interfering with the paper marking in the Fundamental Rights Application filed by an Advanced Level student.

The Court directed the IGP to facilitate the issuance of the summons on the union leaders who had been added as respondents on an application by the petitioners counsel Faiz Musthapha PC.

Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Sanjaya Rajaratnam on behalf of the Attorney General filed a motion seeking the five respondent trade unions to give an undertaking to abide by the Supreme Court order dated September 6.

He submitted that the Advanced level paper marking was scheduled to be started yesterday, was sabotaged by the trade union action of the respondent unions. The DSG based his motion on the letter sent by the respondent unions to the Secretary to the Education Ministry informing them that the membership of unions would stage a token strike in government schools through out the country.

In terms of the letter produced in the court by the DSG the union leaders stated that they would resort to the islandwide token strike yesterday due to the non implementation of the interim proposals of the Salaries and Cadre Commission.

The letter was signed by the president of the Sri Lanka Eksath Guru Seva Sangamaya, and the secretaries of the Lanka Guru Seva Sangamaya, Educational Professionals Association, Lanka Guru Sangamaya and the Lanka Home Science and Agriculture Diploma Holders Teachers Association.

The Court had earlier issued an interim order on September 6, restraining the respondent unions from interfering with the paper marking until the final determination of the rights plea filed by a student of the Nivartaka Chethiya Maha Vidyalaya, Anuradhapura stating that his rights had been violated by the delaying in the paper markings.