Karu Jayasuriya intervenes to solve Railway Strike
The Sri Lanka Railway Station Masters’ Union says its trade union action was called off yesterday following the intervention of former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to convene a discussion with the relevant authorities.
Speaking to local media, the Chairman of the Union Sumedha Somaratne said the former Speaker had convened a meeting with the Minister and State Minister of Transportation last evening.
Sumedha Somaratne said Karu Jayasuriya had personally invited them for a discussion with the authorities and had stated that he was intervening as a representative of the people.
“We were not intending to attend any discussions with the authorities. We attended the meeting only because it was convened by the former Speaker,” he said.
Sumedha Somaratne added that the Union had received a favourable response at the meeting leading to its decision to suspend the trade union action.
He, however, clarified that the Union had not called off the strike due to threats by the authorities to suspend them from service.
Stating that the authorities had delayed addressing their demands on multiple occasions, he said the Railway Station Masters had no choice but to resort to a trade union action.
The Railway Station Masters and Controllers launched a trade union action on Wednesday over several grievances, including promotions.
The trade union action resulted in the cancellation and limited operations of train services, severely inconveniencing the public.
