The General Secretary of the Ceylon Electricity Board’s Free Employees’ Union, Prabath Priyantha, has warned that if the government fails to respond positively to the ongoing trade union action, CEB employees will launch a full-scale strike after the 21st of this month.
Explaining the series of trade union actions initiated from the 4th of this month, Priyantha stated that all officers of the Electricity Board, including engineers, have been withdrawn from external duties starting today (16).
He further revealed that nearly 21,800 employees of the CEB will collectively take two days of sick leave on the 17th and 18th of this month. During these two days, a massive protest is scheduled to take place in front of the CEB head office in Colombo, with a strong message to the government not to underestimate the seriousness of their trade union action.
Priyantha emphasized that the government is displaying an “arrogant mentality” in handling the situation and urged authorities to resolve the matter promptly to avoid inconvenience to the country’s 7.2 million electricity consumers.
