National strike, unions: public sector employees threatened with dismissal
Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Sri Lankan government threatened to fire civil servants who participated in yesterday's nationwide strike organised by trade unions and the opposition to protest against the recent jump in electricity costs, this according to trade unions leaders. Still, the latter expressed their satisfaction with the level of participation, promising to start their protests again after the weeklong celebration of Vesak (21-27 May), the country's main Buddhist festival.
For the government however, the strike was a flop as workers in key sectors such as transport and health stayed on the job. According to official data, 93.5 per cent of civil servants came to work, about 3.5 per cent more than the daily average.
However, many workers interviewed by AsiaNews admitted that they boycotted the strike only out of fear of losing their job and that they fully supported the battle against the country's high cost of living.
According to the president of the National Union, KD Lal Kantha, "the strike was a success, as the government had to impose many restrictions on public workers." He noted also that many from the private sector joined the labour action.
"Employees from about 200 private companies participated in the strike," said Wasanthe Samarasinghe, a member of the union Inter Company Employees Unions. "And many private factories chose not to work."
Samarasinghe slammed heads of government departments for abusing their power when they sent an internal memo, requiring everyone go to work.
In his view, many teachers and public servants joined the labour action despite the threats with some unfurling black flags outside their offices as a sign of solidarity.
The Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA), the largest union of university professors in the country, also took part in the strike.
Some workers at the main bus station in Colombo told AsiaNews that they backed the strikers, but did not join because they were afraid of losing their job.
"If we get fired," one of them said, "how can we feed our families? It would be an even greater crisis."
"We cannot trust this government," said public and private sector workers. "But if we join the strike, we do not know what will become of us, because they always use force."
Despite everything, K.D. Lal Kantha, is optimistic. He told reporters that the strike was a success because it showed the government's vulnerability since it had to resort to threats in order to discourage it.
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