Thousands hit by rail strike
Waruna PADMASIRI
Thousands of commuters were inconvenienced by the sudden and
unannounced railway employees’ strike yesterday afternoon.
The strike was called off at 7.30 pm. Transport Minister, Kumara
Welgama asked the railway unions not to hide behind labour rights to
strike at peak hours, putting the public in great difficulty.
He asked the unions to have discussions, try and resolve the issues
before going for strike action. Minister asked the Director General of
the Railway Department to investigate the legality of holding such
unannounced strikes.
During the strike, steps were taken to minimize the inconvenience to
the public. All trains covered by the Colombo Control Centre operated
even during the strike.
Extra buses provided by the Sri Lanka Transport Board at the Fort
station and at Maradana provided free of charge services to season train
ticket holders.
The unions have agreed to halt the industrial action showing confidence
in the minister's written promise to begin discussions by this Friday in
order to address the concerns raised by the unions regarding salary
scale and grade issues. |
