Sri Lanka Railways Forum

Millions of commuters will be stranded at railway stations tomorrow as Sri Lanka Railway Station Masters’ Union (SLRSMU) goes on strike, crippling the train services from midnight today. The SLRSMU claimed that over 1,000 station masters around the island will take part in the strike.

“All the unions have offered their support for our cause and 99% of the station masters will join in the strike. This will completely halt the issuing of tickets and have a major impact on signalling,” SLRSMU General Secretary Amarasena Veddagala said. He added that the reasons for this union action are the discrepancies in the salary scheme, the delays and irregularities in the promotions process and not filling over 150 vacancies.

“There are 150 unfilled station masters vacancies, and because of this, it has become extremely difficult to continue work at these stations. Even at the Fort Railway Station there will be a shortage of station masters next year,” Veddagala said. “At the Fort Railway Station the superintendent was given two extensions of service, and because of that, station masters under him did not get the promotions they deserved,” he added.

But the main reason for the union action is the salary discrepancies created by the addition of Class 3 to the service. Over 200 station masters who belonged to Class 2 of the service have been wrongfully demoted with the introduction of Class 3, Veddagala said.

“We have nothing against the creation of a new grade, but it should be done in a proper manner. According to information we have, this was established by the Salaries Commission due to the insistence of the Railway Department,” he said. “They should have filled the ranks of this new grade with new recruits,” he added.

Meanwhile, All Ceylon Railway Employees’ General Union (ACREGU) General Secretary Sumathipala Manawadu said that the ACREGU has extended their support for tomorrow’s strike.

“The Station Masters’ Union has informed us about their union action and we believe that their grievances are just. And we have requested the station masters attached to our union to support the SLRSMU. We believe that the union action will have a crippling effect on the railway operations on Monday,” he added.

General Manager Railways Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan claimed that only time will tell whether the union action taken by the SLRSMU will have any impact on the railway operations. He added that although the unions have the right to take action, this one cannot be justified.

“All of us have problems, but we have done our best to solve these issues. The problem related to salaries and promotions should be resolved by the relevant commissions,” he said.

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Source: The Nation

Tags: commuters, discrepancies, grievances, irregularities, new recruits, promotions, railway department, railway employees, railway operations, railway stations, salaries, station masters, train services, vacancies

                            

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 9:07 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.